Tail Cone 10-20-4 to 10-20-7, Static Ports

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 bulkhead riveted to bottom skin

F-1010 bulkhead riveted to bottom skin

Now I move on to backriveting the side skins to the forward bottom skin.

Rivets taped in place and ready to be set

These were again relatively easy to backrivet, with the exception of a couple that I will buck (with some help) right behind the F-1010 bulkhead, and the center rivet at the aft tip of the forward bottom skin.

Bottom skin riveted to side skins

Aft section of the forward bottom skin where I will need help to buck a few remaining rivets

Back riveting worked well to keep the skins tight

With the forward bottom skin riveting almost complete (with the exception of the few rivets mentioned), I next tackled the remaining rivets attaching the aft bottom skin and the rudder stop stiffeners. 

The rudder stop stiffener rivets, and rivets attaching the aft bottom skin to the side skins were easily bucked.

The final few rivets that I was able to tackle myself were those at the bottom of the F-1012A bulkhead, next to the tie down bar. I used my angled bucking bar to get into the tight space, and I was able to set them all without any issue. I had to be careful though not to let the bucking bar hit the skin as I was setting the rivets.

Rivets all set at the aft end of the tail cone

Happy with how the rivets turned out at the bottom aft end!

Time Taken:     7.8 hours

Dates:                May 23 - May 30 2023

Tail Cone Total Time:           140.9 hours

RV-10 Build Total Time:      396.9 hours

Priming Total Time:                     42.5 hours (not included in build time totals)