What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Riveting Top Aft Skins

D

drone_pilot

Well Known Member
I have the top of my fuselage open still. and I'm getting all of the electrical, etc figured out in the tail section before I rivet the aft skins. I'm just about done routing everything through there that I can think of.

I see all of these RV-7s with the top aft skins riveted on, but have no idea how you guys are getting in there to buck the rivets. You can't just crawl in there without damaging the bottom skins/bulkheads, can you? Did you put some kind of temporary wood flooring, etc back there to do this? Is getting in there even necessary?

Please enlighten me!

Thanks!
 
The most work back there is riveting the skins. Very little wiring; tail strobe, autopilot servo and ELT. But yes, plywood, carpet, memory foam... Anything to spread the load a little bit. I can work my way all the way back to feed the rudder cables with no other support and I weigh about 215. Just got to be careful to put load on a rib or something stiffer than the middle field of a skin.
 
On my -6, I simply laid a couple of 2x8's or maybe 2x'6's back there stretching from the baggage compartment bulkhead to the last "shoulder width" bulkhead. I cut plywood to bridge between the 2x8's. I put padding between the 2x8's and the bulkheads so there were no highly concentrated loads. Didn't see any damage.

The biggest worry is dropping a bucking bar and denting a bottom skin, so you drape the whole platform with a couple of packing blankets which affords some protection against a dropped bucking bar. It also makes the platform a little more comfortable while you're back there.
 
Easy

I made six inch thick styrofoam blocks to fit in the cavitys in the tail cone, pretty cozy. Take them out before you fly :)
 
Tailcone Work Platform

On the RV 6 slider I use 2 ea - 2x4's. The 8 footers are too long to fit and need to be shortened 4 inches. I lay them on top of the bulkheads about 3" apart and put a strip of carpet on the wood. If you are working with heavy tools use something for dent protection for the bottoms skins. Removing the forward bolt from the elevator pushrod allows it to be moved to one side and will give you more working room and a chance to inspect the rod end, bolt and locknut.
 
False floor...

Hi Ben,

I just finished riveting the aft top skins. The most aft skin I was able to do completely without getting in the tailcone. My arms were long enough to buck by reaching in from the front and back. The forward aft top skin I had to get in the tailcone. I built a false floor using house insulation foam I got at home depot. I think it was two inches thick. I used two pieces on each side. I laid a piece of 1/4 plywood on top of the foam. It worked really well.

There's a few pictures in the following thread.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=107939

I cut the foam using a circular power saw. Easy, but made a mess.

Michael-
 
Much like others here, but I added a 2 X 4 bridge from J-lap to J-lap as it seemed stiffer than the ribs. Then bridged it with plywood. Use as many that make you feel good about spreading the loads fore and aft.

Put some baby blankets (or substitute) to catch the inevitable dropped tool.

As soon as I get some inspection done, I will be doing this too.

Happy riveting!
 
Top Aft Skins

After building 33 RV airframes of all models, here at East Texas Airframes I have come up with a way to rivet all top aft fuse. skins as a one man job. It CAN BE DONE! And NO BLIND RIVETS!!! No dents and no scratches. No, I don't have Gorilla arms, I have 45 years of aircraft sheet metal experience. Cleco the aft most skin on and rivet, that should be a no brainer. Then cleco the fwd skin along the top center rib and stringers and rivet. Now cleco from top center bulkhead down about 5 or 6 rivets and reach in under the skin to buck them. Slowly work your way down the bulkhead until you can't get your arm in any more. (use caution not to kink the skin) When you've gone as far as you can cleco the rest down and you should be able the reach the rest along the longeron. YES, it does take a long reach but most folks can do it. If not roll the fuse on it's side and have a friend stand up and reach in and buck the last few rivets for you. Good Luck.
 
Van's crate

I used blankets under plywood from a Vans crate. In two pieces, one side slightly overlaps the other. The floor is very sturdy and I have found that using just one side is permits working on the floor of the tail cone for running wiring.

P1010532.JPG
 
Much like Joe, I used the crating from Vans to build temp floor panels that rested on the longerons. My bucking buddy weighs over 200 and there is not a dent or wrinkle to be found. :)
 
chuckster said:
After building 33 RV airframes of all models, here at East Texas Airframes I have come up with a way to rivet all top aft fuse. skins as a one man job. It CAN BE DONE! And NO BLIND RIVETS!!! No dents and no scratches. No, I don't have Gorilla arms, I have 45 years of aircraft sheet metal experience. Cleco the aft most skin on and rivet, that should be a no brainer. Then cleco the fwd skin along the top center rib and stringers and rivet. Now cleco from top center bulkhead down about 5 or 6 rivets and reach in under the skin to buck them. Slowly work your way down the bulkhead until you can't get your arm in any more. (use caution not to kink the skin) When you've gone as far as you can cleco the rest down and you should be able the reach the rest along the longeron. YES, it does take a long reach but most folks can do it. If not roll the fuse on it's side and have a friend stand up and reach in and buck the last few rivets for you. Good Luck.
Click to expand...

I did mine solo on my 9A...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top