Started riveting the skin on HS#2 - 4 hours

Took a bit of a slow day today. I cleco'd the skins to the HS-707, HS-708 and HS-706 ribs. I then proceeded to rivet the skin to HS-707 both L and R sides.

I then deviated from the plans slightly as I riveted the HS-706 to the front spar assembly. The plans have to do this step after the skins are riveted and the first go around was really tough for my to get a good bucked rivet in that tight space. I then set the assembly into the skins and re-cleco'd everything.
 
Began the long, but quite enjoyable task to rivet the skins on. Managed to get a ways through before I called it a day.

Started riveting the HS#2 skins - 2.5 hours

I dimpled the skins (which actually takes a bit of time) on the DRDT-2 and then set starting to rivet the skins. So far....So good.

 

 

Completed riveting the HS#2 rear spar - 4 hours

Started riveting the HS#2 rear spar. Decided to go up a rivet size from the plans (like I did on the first HS) as the rivet callout is short. The longer rivets are the correct length (AN470AD4-7 as opposed to 4-6) according to the rivet gauge and are a bit more tough to set straight. It went extremely well and I did have to drill out about 8 rivets total and reset them. Had a bit more tough time setting the rivets for the hinge brackets, but in the end I'm very pleased with how it turned out. 

Riveted HS#2 00005 & 00006 ribs to Spar - 3 hours

A bit of a frustrating evening. Riveted on the HS-00005 and 00006 ribs to the front spar. After my first empennage leaving these ribs off for the Canadian Inspection makes it extremely tough to rivet after pre-close. I decided to install the rivets now and I will not rivet the skin to HS-00006 if the inspector wants to check the rivets inside the HS.

I tried to squeeze as many of the rivets as I could. It's slow and painful. However I had to buck half of them as the longeron yoke was not able to catch them all. It's a bit difficult as I had to buck the rivets and I haven't bucked in some time, so I'm a tad rusty. I bent the ribs out of the way enough to allow using the straight rivet set. (I really wish I had a long rivet set for this). The first few were good. The last couple where not. Had to drill out and try again, and again. Fortunately my rivet removal techniques are top notch and when punching out the rivets with my handy tools the holes are left in excellent condition. I was finally able to set the last tricky rivet. Then I had to go and buff the ribs and re-prime where the tools scuffed the original primer off. Lots of frustration tonight but I got the job done well.  

Helped Mike with his Stewart S-51 Elevator Hinge

Not much to report on the project. Mike came over and we put in a couple of hours in working on the S-51 elevator hinge. Pretty impressive parts, but much more work and thinking involved than the Vans Kit.

Primed the HS#2 Parts and Riveted the Front Spar - 10 hours

Spent a fair amount of time prepping the HS parts for primer. I de-vinyled the skins, deburred all holes and filed down all edges. Then I cleaned up all the edges with the 3M wheels. Did a good scuff with scotchbrite and wiped down with MEK. The primed the parts. After supper I headed back out to the garage and started to rivet the front spar assembly. The result was excellent work but very labor intensive.

Finished Tank and Access Platenuts - 10 hours

Huge day in the garage! I started to prime the HS#2 front spar parts as well as some wing platenuts.
Then I set to work on riveting on the platenuts. The majority of the platenuts go on very easy. however, the angled platenuts are a tad more challenging.  Installation of cleco's also presents a challenge with using my squeezer. I found if I used then from the inside out allowed much better access for the squeezer.

 
Setting the rivet closest to the spar web is a bit difficult as the factory installed rivets in that area limit clear access with the squeezer. I ended up having to drill about 5 or so rivets that stuck up just a bit too much. To my delight drilling out the rivets went extremely well and I re-set them.  
Before attaching the #6 platenuts for the access plates, I began to wonder if I needed to drill out the holes for the #6 screws (as they won't fit thru the holes as-is). So back to reading the instructions/forums/buildlogs. So I determined that I keep going and don't drill just yet. That lead me to wonder about countersinking the #6 holes. Everything I read is <0.3175", But nothing is definitive. So I grabbed the access plate drilled, deburred, dimpled it to #6 and then grabbed a piece of scrap and set out figuring out the proper countersink depth. After much back and forth I settled on a countersink diameter of 0.300" This allows the #6 screw just below the surface with a slight halo around it, which seems to be inline with the description on the forums. And it is also just clear of the edge of the flange. I also reasoned that at that depth it helps to ensure that I don't countersink too deep and ruin the spars and it provides a decent fit of the plate.

 
Of course though....I will get a second opinion on this before I go too much further.

Update, I ran this by my friend Mike who is an Aircraft mechanic by trade, and He was please with what he saw. It's nice to have knowledgeable people around to bounce things off of.  

Once I felt confident that I had the access plate platenuts figured out, I completed riveting them on the spar.Once the Left spar was done, I then continued on to the right spar. By midnight I was done!