Alex's Vans RV-10 Build Log

The end of tail cone bottom and side skin riveting is in sight! Focusing now on the bottom skin, I back riveted the bulkhead flanges to the skin.  On the F-1007 flange, there are two rivets that sit behind the stiffeners, so these cannot be back riveted. I'll buck those later with some help. F-1008 bulkhead fully riveted to the bottom skin (background) and F-1007 bulkhead rivets taped in place and ready to be set Taking a quick break from riveting, I marked and final drilled the locations for the static line attachment brackets to the F-1047-B Left stiffener. The brackets are now ready for priming, and will be primed alongside the aft top skin. Bracket positioned, clamped and ready for drilling Brackets drilled,  clecoed and labeled Next I continued backriveting the bulkheads to the forward bottom skin. These were mostly straightforward. There was only one rivet I had to drill out that was close to the stiffener and caught the edge of the rivet set while backriveting. F-1008 bulkhe

As I'm getting close to riveting the top of the tail cone, I decided to finish priming the remaining few pieces of this section that require priming. This was a quick priming session in which I primed the aft top skin, and the static line attachment brackets that I had fabricated. Top skin and brackets taped and ready to clean and etch Top skin and brackets after etching Top skin and brackets after application of primer Primer used:   ~100g + 10g distilled water Time Taken:      1.3  hours Dates:                    May 24 - May 27 2023 RV-10 Build Total Time:      389.1  hours Priming Total Time:               42.5  hours  (not included in build time totals)

Continuing with the tail cone riveting, I riveted the bulkheads to the side skins using the tungsten bucking bars.   The bulkhead rivets next to the stiffeners proved to be somewhat challenging as I could not fit my tungsten bars easily over the rivet head. I tried using the footed steel bucking bar that I purchased a while back, and while it fit nicely over the rivet shank, the rivet did not set as well as those done with the tungsten bars. I also had to turn up the air restrictor a couple of notches before the rivet would start to set. I decided to instead order another tungsten bar with a greater angle at the end. Once that arrives, I will use it to set the rivets behind the stiffeners. Attempting to rivet behind the stiffener with the steel bucking bar The end result is just okay... the shop head has the correct diameter, but doesn't look as good as those set with the tungsten bars I continued riveting all bulkheads down to where the skin starts to curve. Bucking the rivets wa

I started riveting the side skin stiffeners C, D and E in the same way I back riveted the bottom skin stiffeners. Working my way out from the center of the tail cone, I riveted each stiffener in sections of 12-13 rivets, completing both sides of the tail cone before moving on to the next section. As before, riveting near the bulkheads was done with the 12" back rivet set. Prior to riveting a line of rivets, I also made sure that the skin was sitting flush against the back rivet plate. I moved the carpet pieces around, and used rags where necessary, to ensure everything was in alignment. Doing this setup for every line of rivets took more time than actual riveting, but I was happy with how the rivets were set, and all rivets set flush on the outside of the skins. Starting to rivet the side skin stiffeners to the skins and bulkheads Using rags to hold the tail cone at the correct angle so that the rivets and skin were flat against the back rivet plate Moving towards the rear of the

After priming all the tail cone pieces, I realized that I had forgotten to mask off the area around the holes where the static port is attached. This was easily fixed after the fact by masking with painters tape and wiping with acetone. Taping off the area around the static port hole so that primer can be removed Static port hole with primer removed where port will bond to skin I plan to back rivet as much of the tail cone as I can, and will therefore be clecoing it together from the inside as I start to reassemble it. So that the protruding cleco tails don't interfere with back riveting, I also cut up some carpet (pile ~ 0.5") to support the skins and allow the cleco tails to sink in.  Carpet panels will be used to support skins and clecos while back riveting I also had to tape a 1/4" piece of MDF hardboard to the underside of my back rivet plate to raise it to the level of the carpet and ensure that the skins would have good contact with the plate while riveting. In add