29 - Fwd Mid Fuse Side Str (Finished); 30 - Aft Fuse Attachment (almost finished "The Big Join"!)

My wife said "there's a lot of 'wifey effort' that hasn't been documented yet on your blog" ... so I figured I better post something today.  She's in the pics below, helping me do "The Big Join" (term coined by Ken B.) of the aft fuselage and the mid/fwd fuselage parts. With a lot of planning, and a nicely crafted fuselage cradle (see last 2 posts), AND most importantly having assisted Ken B. with his 14A's Big Join in January, the process was fairly straightforward.  Riveting the two parts, however, has been a bit of a pain in the ass.  All but the last 37 rivets have been set.  Here are some of the tasks completed during the past ~10 days:

- Drilled, deburred, and riveted gussets to longeron and seat back brace; riveted intercostals to skin, longeron, and seat back brace; bolted roll bar bases to fuselage
- Prepared left and right vent assemblies (will install after section 35)
- deburred and dimpled F-1406 bulkheads; riveted nutplates to bulkheads; test-fit bulkheads to aft fuselage; reorganized workspace to position aft and forward fuselage sections for “the big join”; with my wife, joined the two fuselage halves using clecos.
- clecoed the left, right and top F-01406 bulkheads to skins and ribs and stiffeners; installed ELT antenna bracket; separated, deburred, primed, and riveted shoulder lugs and lug clips; riveted lugs to bulkheads
- riveted left, right, center top bulkheads to each other and to the skins; riveted lugs to skins (my wife helped with back-riveting in several sections)
- riveted the two halves of the fuselage together (various areas) with my wife using the back-rivet bucking bar; riveted 12 of the remaining 23 rivets in the fwd bottom skin; tested two colors of gray for the interior paint - will go with the Light Gunmetal 50 Gloss from Cardinal (A-GR10-4A05)
- riveted remaning 11 rivets in the fwd bottom skin; riveted all but 37 rivets between the aft and fwd parts of the fuselage (almost completed the Big Join) - my wife helped on these PITA rivets

Clecoed seat back brace to fuselage assembly:

DON'T FORGET TO CLICK "READ MORE" TO SEE THE OTHER UMPTEEN PICS FOR EACH POST (this message is mostly for my 80 year old mother)

29 - Fwd Mid Fuse Side Structure (finished right side; seat back brace)

Slow yet steady progress during this past week and a half.  Most of this time was spent finishing the right side of the fuselage, and while I didn't take as many pictures this time (since the right side is almost an exact mirror of the left), I specifically accomplished the following:

- started right side skin - attached to upper & lower longerons, stiffener, and (temp.) bolted longerons to firewall
- clecoed and match-drilled skin/firewall and right side shim (and deburred and dimpled); final drilled all #30 holes common to skin and longerons; final-drilled holes common to skin/center section/ upper drag fitting (and deburred); broke edges of right side skin; radiused top edge of skin; feathered upper aft corner of skin; dimpled right side skin; deburred edges of vent and other cutouts
- countersunk and re-primed countersunk holes in right longerons; riveted right roll bar angle to intercostal; riveted fuselage side ribs to skin; riveted drag fitting and center section side plate to skin; riveted stiffener to skin; installed skin to fuselage; bolted upper and lower longerons (temp) to bulkhead
- prepped stiffeners and other bits for the right side skin structure; riveted canopy latch brackets to side skin; prosealed and clecoed right skin to firewall and right upper longeron
started riveting right side skin to the fuselage, ribs, stiffeners, etc. (used back-rivet bucking bar for as much as possible)
- almost finished riveting right side skin and associated parts to fuselage assembly
- Finished riveting right side skin except for 23 rivets common to the bottom skin; Riveted web stiffeners to bulkhead assemblies; riveted nutplates to center right bottom skin and root fairing attach angles; riveted root fairing attach angles to right side skin; reinstalled bulkhead bar assembly (right)
- fabricated seat back adjustment guides, and assembled seat back brace

Temporarily attached the right skin to match-drill a few holes in the engine mount brackets:

29 - Fwd Mid Fuse Side Structure (finished left side)

Section 29 is long and involved - after over 50hrs, I've only finished the left side (for now) and tomorrow I'll start the right.  But, it is looking more and more like a fuselage each day, which is motivating.  The following were accomplished since the last post:

- re-primed countersunk holes in left longerons (upper and lower); riveted left roll bar angle to intercostal; riveted fuselage side ribs to skin; riveted drag fitting and center section side plate to skin; riveted stiffener to skin; installed skin to fuselage; prepped stiffeners and other bits for the side skin structure; riveted canopy latch brackets to side skin; prosealed and clecoed skin to firewall and upper longeron
- riveted left side skin to a whole lot of shit (used back-rivet bucking bar for as much as possible)
finished riveting left side skin (for now), with the help of my wife who riveted the bottom forward flange of the left side skin to the bottom forward left skin (while I bucked from inside; yes it was a pain)
- riveted armrest, and front skin stiffeners to skin (my wife helped with some of the back-rivet bucking); riveted center section channel; riveted roll bar angle; riveted flap block bracket; prepared root fairing attach angles
- riveted web stiffeners to bulkhead assemblies; riveted nutplates to center bottom skin and root fairing attach angles; riveted root fairing attach angles to left side skin; reinstalled bulkhead bar assembly (left)

Riveted fuselage side ribs to left skin: