Van's OP-51 Sheet Metal Basics Practice Kit - 1st Attempt
1st attempt at Van's Sheet Metal Basics practice kit. I didn't take many photos while assembling this kit, but here are a few of the finished product.
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| Finished piece |
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| Front View |
I wasn't able to pull all the rivets along the bottom due to my manual rivet puller not gripping the stems properly (note the universal head rivets at the ends). Ordered an ATS pneumatic puller from Aircraft Spruce.
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| Top (Outer Surface) View |
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| Side View |
Notice the pillowing between the two aluminum sheets
Lessons Learned
- Start riveting outwards from the center of a rivet line to minimize pillowing between rivets
- Make sure to hold the sheets tightly together at corner rivets. The sheet corner tended to bend towards the shop head as I squeezed the rivets there
I'll be trying another Sheet Metal Basics kit when one is delivered with my RV-10 empennage kit and comparing the results.
Date: April 11 2022
Time Taken: 3.1 hours