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Aft fuselage rivet holes not lining up F-711 F-712 F-779

jcarne

Well Known Member
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Did anyone else have problems getting the side skins to line up with these rivet holes? I got clecoes in them but I'm thinking if I drill the holes they will probably be less than round, probably acceptable but I'm pondering the idea of just going up to -4 rivets. Any thoughts?

Let me also add that yes I spent hours upon hours manipulating F-779 bottom tail cone skin already, and also clecoed things in every possible order I could think of. Mainly wondering if anyone else went to -4 rivets or see a problem with doing so. Thanks!

aft fuselage by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
Pain

Yes, major pain. Make sure the bottom flanges on both bulkhead are bent perfectly and fit the bottom skin. I removed and replaced them lots before they fit right. Seems like I had to buy a new set too.
 
Jcarne did you find a good solution to this dilemma? I’m dealing with this now and close to using a fire axe!
 
Jcarne did you find a good solution to this dilemma? I’m dealing with this now and close to using a fire axe!

Ya that one sure sticks in the memory bank. Haha

I kept tweaking things to get it as best I could. In the end though there was a few holes that elongated and upsized to some larger rivets, not all of them by any means but I would guess 5-10ish. The rest of them probably weren’t perfect but the rivets filled the holes nicely. When you rivet the bottom first it will also pull it down a bit.

Flying along nicely for 123 hours so far. :)
 
Just me

I had to increase the bend on the bottom piece to get everything even close to fitting. It took me a while to figure this is what needed to be done.
 
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