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Riveting Inboard Rib/Spar in Horizontal Stab

skelrad

Well Known Member
Friend
Any tricks to riveting the inboard rib to the front spar in the horizontal stab of a RV9? I made quite a mess of the area trying to figure out the best way to rivet the main rib to the shim, spar, and nose rib. With the spar attach angle in place, getting a gun or bucking bar in there is awkward at best. By the time I got the rivets done I had really beat the life out of the manufactured head and didn't set the rivet as well as I would like. I tried putting the rivets in facing the other direction, which helped to some degree, but still not an ideal outcome. I'm interested in how other people tackled this as I decide whether or not to drill out and try again.
 
Last edited:
been a while but

its been a while but i did not follow the exact order in the plans and i had to bend (gently) the rib to the side to get to the rivets. once riveted, i was ablt to re-bend the rib to the correct position.
 
Checked my build photos...

I remember this being a pain too, but it was 3 years ago and the scars have healed over now. I put the manufactured heads in from the rear, and used a long off-set rivet set in the gun.
 
They really need to change the instructions and have you install those ribs, with the spacer and nose ribs, before you put it in the skin, when you rivet the non associated main ribs in. Without the skin you can get a squeezer on all the rivets in the inner ribs.
 
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