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.
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| Taping off the area around the static port hole so that primer can be removed |
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| 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.
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| 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 addition to this, I purchased 4 magnets that I will use from the inside of the skins to mark the location of the back rivet plate corners while I am riveting. The skins will completely cover the back rivet plate, and this will help ensure that I don't accidentally attempt to back rivet without the plate in place.
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| Back rivet plate shimmed with a piece of MDF hardboard, along with magnets that will be used to locate the back rivet plate under the skins |
Now I was ready to star riveting the tail cone together. I began by riveting the aft antenna doubler to the bottom forward skin using the pneumatic squeezer and sone 3-3.5 rivets.
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| Aft antenna double being riveted to the forward bottom skin... |
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| ... and all shop heads squeezed |
Next I riveted the nut plates to the left skin access hole flange using the pneumatic squeezer.
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| Nut plates riveted to the access panel flange |
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| Nutplates were dimpled with a narrow female die, and rivets squeezed using a narrow set to avoid damaging the dimple for the #6 screw |
I then back riveted the rudder cable fairing to the left skin. I had to be careful here as I had to rivet close to the edge of the back rivet plate due to the protruding part of the fairing on the exterior of the skin, but the rivets set well.
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| Left rudder cable fairing back riveted to the left skin |
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| Rivets looking nice and flush on the skin |
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| Right skin rudder cable fairing and access hole nutplates attached |
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| I was able to squeeze half of the fairing rivets and back rivet the other half |
It was time now to start assembling the tail cone for the final time in preparation for riveting everything together. I followed the steps earlier in the plans and clecoed the bulkheads and stiffeners to the forward bottom skin, and then added the stiffeners and right side skin.
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Tail cone coming together for the final time
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| After flipping the tail cone over, I transferred all clecoes to the inside |
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| The tail cone was moved onto the workbench, and additional pieces attached |
Now I was ready to start back riveting the bottom forward skin stiffeners in place. To help keep the rivet gun in line with the rivet, I had attached a small bubble level to the end.
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| Bubble level attached to end of rivet gun with a small dab of RTV |
Starting in the center of the G stiffener, I worked outward in sections of 12-13 rivets, carefully repositioning the back rivet plate between sections. I also used the 12" back rivet set to set the rivets close to the bulkheads. The magnets used to indicate the edges of the back rivet plate worked really well.
After completing the G stiffener, I moved on to back riveting the F stiffeners in the same way.
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| Back riveting the bottom stiffeners. Magnets (taped in blue) clearly indicate where the back rivet plate is located |
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Bottom stiffener riveting complete! Rivets look good from the outside.
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| Bottoms skin stiffeners back riveted and both side skins attached |
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Bottom skin stiffeners riveted at the aft end of the forward bottom skin
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After completing riveting of the bottom skin stiffeners, I attached the left side skin, stiffeners and longeron in preparation for riveting the side skin stiffeners.
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Build Hints
- Magnets make it incredibly easy to determine accurate placement of the back rivet plate under a large skin.
- Rivets close to the bulkheads can only be back riveted using a longer back rivet set. The 12" set worked well.
- I found that the best looking (round and centered) back riveted shop heads were formed when I did not push down excessively on the rivet while back riveting. I pushed down just enough to compress the back rivet set spring against the collar, and held the rivet gun with the bubble level centered.
- When riveting bottom skin stiffeners with only one side skin attached, I found that the tail cone would lean towards the side skin due to the additional weight of the skin. I used rags under the side skin to hold it up far enough so that the bottom skin would be flat against the back rivet plate when riveting the bottom stiffeners on the opposite side.
Time Taken: 7.6 hours
Dates: April 30 - May 4 2023
Tail Cone Total Time: 110.5 hours
RV-10 Build Total Time: 366.5 hours
Priming Total Time: 41.2 hours (not included in build time totals)
