Things to do before final assembly of rear fuselage?

[bruceh]

Got a bunch of stuff done this holiday weekend and I'm just about ready to do the final riveting of the rear fuselage section. Before I begin, is there anything else I should be thinking about doing before this goes together permanently?

I'm thinking that my Safeair static ports could be put on, or is it too soon? They might interfere with future riveting of the upper half of the fuse?
What about putting on rudder cable fairings?

At this stage I just have the F712 & F711 bulkheads attached to the F-799 tail skin.

Is there a preferred order in the way to rivet this thing together solo, or will it require a bucking buddy?

[cjensen]

You can do all that stuff just before you rivet the rear aft top skin on...no need to take care of it when riveting the lower section together. As long as it's all still open from the top, you'll have access.

One thing you will want to do, though, is dimple the hole for the screw that holds the rudder cable Adel clamp before you rivet that all together, if you haven't done it already.

[BSwayze]

Bruce,

I also have the SafeAir static ports, and you can go ahead and install the ports any time now. The tubing is easy to put on later.

Do you have your rudder cables installed yet? Don't forget to do that first because the end fitting on the cable won't go through the hole once the fairing is on! Plus, all those plastic bushings... the cable won't go through them either unless you pull the bushing out, squeeze it to flatten it a bit, then thread the cable through it, then pop the bushing back in the hole.
You could also put on the brackets for the shoulder belts.

I just finished putting on my rudder cable fairings over the weekend. I don't see any reason to wait on that either. I used NAS1097 "oops" rivets, and they came out beautiful. You don't have to dimple anything. A small countersink, done with your deburring tool, is enough for these rivets and they come out perfectly flush.

[bruceh]

I did some more research (reading forums and websites) and saw that I needed to get the adel clamp holes dimpled.

The rudder fairings can certainly wait. I'm going to try to make a pair from scratch and save some $. I've seen some people put platenuts down to hold the fairings on so they can remove them if needed. I'll probably just glue them on with proseal when the time comes.

Looks like I can go ahead and start by riveting the bottoms of the bulkheads to the bottom skins. Then work my way up and across.

[bullojm1]

The rudder fairings can certainly wait. I'm going to try to make a pair from scratch and save some $. I've seen some people put platenuts down to hold the fairings on so they can remove them if needed. I'll probably just glue them on with proseal when the time comes.

I wouldn't recommend gluing these fairings on. With the fairings on, the ends of the rudder cables can't be passed through the fuselage. I installed mine with some flush #40 pop rivets. If I ever need to replace them, I will drill them out and dimple the holes for a #6 screw and use those instead.

[cjensen]

I popped mine on as well...also made mine...

[bruceh]

I'm in the midst of riveting the rear fuse section together. The instructions are pretty thin on what parts need to be connected at this point. They just mention bulkheads and skins getting riveted.

Can I rivet on the F-729A stringer to the bottom skin now? I know that the F-706 bulkhead remains clecoed until the center section mates up with it.

[BSwayze]

Bruce,

If that's the part I'm thinking of (I don't have my drawings in front of me) it's the piece that connects the F-706 to the F-707 bulkhead and runs right down the middle of the bottom skin, right? If so, you might want to consider waiting for a while.

The reason is, it's not an easy piece to rivet to the F-706 bulkhead once it's in the fuselage. It would be much easier to rivet it to the F-706 on the bench before installing it, than it would be later on down inside the fuse. Either way, though, I think you'll get it done okay.

One more thing to consider now, before you do anything else, is if you plan on having an autopilot. If so, you should install the pitch servo bracket now. It will never be easier, with better access, than it is right now. It rivets to this rib and to the bottom skin. If it's not done now, it will be a real pain later on to crawl in there and do it, and try to dimple, etc. You can buy just the brackets at this point, if you don't have them already, without spending all the money for the servos. Then you can wait as long as you wish to get the servos and the autopilot, but the bracket is waiting for you.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

[bruceh]

I went ahead and attached the rib to the bulkhead, then attached the rib to the skin. My only mess up was not leaving the forward most 2 holes un-riveted for where the center section overlaps. Oh well, 1 more rivet to drill out.

I do have the Dynon AP servo bracket and it is also installed.

Now I'm wondering about whether or not to buy Van's kit for mounting the ADHRS. It looks like it gets put down there too. I'm also pondering the ELT/Strobe mounting kit. At this point in the construction, these questions really start forcing you to think way ahead to things like strobe lights, ELT's, etc.