Rotisserie with clecos only? (and how good is this kit)

[TASEsq]

Has anyone put their fuse on the rotisserie at the stage where the tailcone is cleco’d to the fuselage, but no rivets have been set?

We just got it cleco’d today and an initial look at how we will approach riveting made us think we would be able to reach a lot more, if the whole thing could be rotated.

As a side note - how good is this kit!! Not a single jig and we are seeing 0.00 degrees of twist across the fuselage longerons, the main centre spar and the aft deck. Totally astounding. Such a good bit of kit.

 

[Condor]

I set the fuselage on 2 benches about 2 feet apart to make the join and insert the clecoes.

Once fully clecoed I moved the fuselage onto trestles and after adjusting trestle height and fitting the rotisserie brackets simply supported the joined fuselage on the rotisserie and completed the riveting.

The rotisserie allowed full access to the rivets and made the job a lot easier!

 

[Phil Sprang]

I did exactly that.

The join up was relatively quick. We clecoed just about 100% (ran out of clecos) and put it on the rotisserie. Then I rolled it over.

Using a rotisserie makes things so much easier. Put the work where you are.

 

[TASEsq]

I did exactly that.

The join up was relatively quick. We clecoed just about 100% (ran out of clecos) and put it on the rotisserie. Then I rolled it over.

Using a rotisserie makes things so much easier. Put the work where you are.

Awesome!

I was reasoning that most of the fastening done by rivets on this aeroplane would be in shear anyway - and the clecos are much stronger in shear than rivets. Since everything is dimpled and it’s essentially in a ring, the dimples should maintain alignment since the clecos do have a little bit of play.

 

[David T]

I had mine on the rotisserie held together with clecos for about 6 months before final riveting. I spun it every direction and when I did final riveting, everything was still lined up perfectly and no holes had been elongated.
I even got into the cockpit area several times by simply placing a cushioned sawhorse under the wing spar. Most definitely made everything so much easier to have it rolled on it's side.

 

[WayneJ]

David, I like your rotisserie design. I am at this stage. Would like more details and pictures please

 

[JDA_BTR]

I used the HF engine stand on the front but it worked for me to put the tail on a sawhorse with a few towels underneath. The engine stand had a pin to lock rotation at preset points around the circle.

 

[TASEsq]

Got the stand sorted over the last couple of days. Used a 30x30x1.6 tube across the bottom engine mount points, and 2 additional arms to the top points. The tail just rests on a saw horse - it’s surprisingly well balanced and it seems like reaching into do the tail riveting will be a lot easier! You can stand up against the longerons and just lean in. I’m frightened of bending something of course but the whole fuse seems very rigid so far. A level across the HS bolt holes and across the forward longerons shows they are within 0.05 of a degree of twist. A good solution for a few hundred bucks and 5 hours of effort.