Matt's RV-8 Project



Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date:  12-12-2009
Number of Hours:  3.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Rear Turtle Deck Skin Riveting - Part 1

The time had finally arrived to put a fork in the fuselage; all of the fabrication work was done. This meant it was time to rivet the rear turtle deck skin onto the back of the fuselage. I've been dreading this process for a while now for a couple of reasons. One, once its riveted on, its awfully difficult to do any work in the rear fuselage. In the older quick-build kits, Van's used to rivet the turtle deck skin on. I now can't imagine having this pre-done with all of the wiring and other work that needs to be done on the rear of the fuselage. I was originally annoyed that they no longer riveted it on, but now in retrospect, I extremely happy that they didn't. The other reason I was dreading adding the rear turtle deck is because whenever I pick up the rivet gun, bad things seem to always happen with it...

Craig came over on Saturday and leant me a hand with the riveting. The tail cone towards the back is very small. Fortunately, Craig fit pretty well back there and I think I heard him use the word "cosy" a number of times... :-) It took us most of the day to get the skin riveted on, but I'm extremely pleased to report that the riveting came out *perfect*; not a single bad rivet or over-zealous skin dent! Incredible!!

It was amazing how much the addition of the riveted on rear skin made the fuselage look "complete". I can truly say I am very happy this task is done!

Thanks for the help, Craig!

PS - Did I mention no blemishes?
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Wooden Board For Sitting While Riveting

Wooden Board For Sitting While Riveting

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Rear Turtle Deck Sking Ready For Riveting

Rear Turtle Deck Sking Ready For Riveting

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Rear Turtle Deck Sking Ready For Riveting

Rear Turtle Deck Sking Ready For Riveting

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