Turtle Deck Riveting

Short of oiling up a small child and pressing them into service, does anyone have any good suggestions of how to get to the rear rivets when putting on the turtle deck

mike newall said:

Short of oiling up a small child and pressing them into service, does anyone have any good suggestions of how to get to the rear rivets when putting on the turtle deck

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I am 5'9" and about 230 lbs. My dad, is 6'2 and bigger than me, he didn't bother trying to get in. We had made a set of boards that fit in the back and lay across the lower stringers and I laid down inside the plane in a terribly painful position for god knows how long and riveted everything with one arm. There really isn't any better way to do it. The furthest back bulkhead is tough because you have to lay as far back as you can go and stretch one arm above your head to get to the rivets. I have a picture of me in there looking through the aft bulk head I'll have to find for you. It looks like I am permanently installed in there. Hope you arent claustrophobic. It was in the summer too so I think I only weighed 220 lbs when I was done, sweated it all out.

Wait til your skin is one, tail is on, control rods all hooked up, and then you find out you forgot to run a certain wire to the tail (last night). Now that's tough.

Sorry I don't have any advice, just figured I'd let you know it can be done. I do have one tip for you though that I would do different if doing it again. On the sides where the top skin overlaps the main longeron onto the lower skin, if there is a gap between the bulkhead and the skin at the two or 3 rivets above the longeron, shim it. Otherwise you get an ugly dent on the skin when the rivets pull it down to the bulkhead.

Matthew,

Thanks for the tip about shimming.

My partner's lad is looking promising - Mark is going to refresh him on bucking this week. At least I have a small tungsten bar, so that should make things easier.

I know what you mean about the cabling - I have checked, re checked and checked again - we are good to go !

It is a bit of a struggle but feasible even at 6' and 190 lbs. And we had the remote compass for the Dynon mounted back there which got in the way somewhat. But wait until you try bolting the tailplane on..... Four bolts - no more than 10 minutes??? Took me hours!

Chris

Come on Mike - don't be such a wimp! here is Louise inside the tail of the THREE, doing those same rivets!!!!



The key to small cave-like passages is to tilt the shoulders - one arm forward, one arm back. Specific to the aft end of RV's, get yourself a bunch of blankets to fill the spaces between bulkheads and distribute the load on the skin - then put more on top of those to make a good soft "nest" on which to lay. And blow some air in from the rear deck to keep the bucker cool and breathing....

Paul

Nice shot - helps if you like potholing !

I'm the gun man, so it won't sweat me too much.........

I will post a photo when we do it.

Having fun with the canopy slide this afternoon.

Mike,

I used a back rivet set and back riveted most of my rear skin. You then have to deal with the gun and hose inside but I did it. My rivet partner was less skilled with a bucking bar. You will need a extended back rivet set

+1 on Back Rivet

I am 6' and 250 and I did the work on the inside. My wife ran the gun or back rivet mushroom bar, this was her first time helping me. The very aft rivets have to be done traditional bucking as well as the bulkhead rivets, at least on the narrow bulkheads but the bulk of the longeron rivets we back riveted. Get a fan and a good low wattage light to prevent heat build up. LED lights are great for this work. Boards and couch cushions make it better.

mike newall said:

Matthew,

Thanks for the tip about shimming.

My partner's lad is looking promising - Mark is going to refresh him on bucking this week. At least I have a small tungsten bar, so that should make things easier.

I know what you mean about the cabling - I have checked, re checked and checked again - we are good to go !

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The wire we forgot was the wire that connects all the strobe lights together so they are synced.

We enrolled Happy and Sneezy to help - went a treat.

Not much abuse apart from a popped shoulder.......

Here's the action !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwHIDMUSrUY&list=HL1336857748&feature=mh_lolz