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When to Rivet the Upper Forward Fuselage

snoopyflys

snoopyflys

Well Known Member
Hi all,

This may fall in the category of "you should know when" but I am struggling with when to rivet in the upper forward fuselage. I have fitted and installed the engine mount, brakes lines, rudder pedals, fuel lines (thanks Tom @ TSFlightlines), firewall mounted components like the cabin heat inlet, starter and master relays, battery box and sensor mount. Alot of stuff pretty much done, but now I can't seem to decide when to need to rivet the upper forward fuselage components (less the F-771 forward top skin) before I mount the engine and fit and finish the canopy. So, I am curious as to how others have sequenced this part of the build and if there are any gotchas at this stage?

Thanks,
 
Wiring, brake lines, and fuel lines all in??

Basically anything you can reach from above without the upper fuse in place, instead of crawling under the panel................
 
Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply. No wiring yet.

But that does bring up another question, on the -7a Tip-up, the panel blank mounts to forward fuse ribs that seem to possibly interfere with a EFIS if mounted directly in front of the pilot or co-pilot/passenger. How have other builders solved this issue?

thanks,
 
The very end

I riveted front skin on about 2 months before first flight. I waited until the last minute and glad I did. I even had it off for first engine start just in case I needed to get in there.

Plus I took pictures of everything up front before we riveted that skin on. Others put an access panel up front, I chose not to.
 
snoopyflys said:
the panel blank mounts to forward fuse ribs that seem to possibly interfere with a EFIS if mounted directly in front of the pilot or co-pilot/passenger. How have other builders solved this issue?

thanks,
Click to expand...

I cut them off even with the subpanel and riveted them back on approximately 5" towards the center. This leaves me room for the avionics stack and 10" displays on either side, although I am using the AFS 8.4" displays. You can see them on my build log or visit Bruce Hill's log where I shamelessly copied the idea.

We are about the same place in the build, everything on the firewall I can get before closing things up. I have left the canopy Sikaflex job until everything else was attached on the firewall (except the engine.) The engine is waiting patiently for its turn.
 
Like Bugsy said, the very end. It was the last riveting I did on the airplane.

One tip I found somewhere on this site was related to this subject. Whatever method you use to fasten the top cowl can be attached to the firewall with rivets added in-between the punched holes in the firewall tabs. This makes dealing with the loose boot cowl (771?) much easier.
 
Definitely wait as long as you can - there are a hundred little things that will pop up where the access is nice. I waited until the panel was complete and the engine/prop were on with all wiring and tubing complete. Essentially I put it off until the windshield/canopy fairing was pretty near the top of my "to-do" list and I'm glad I did.
 
YES! Leave til the end ...

The forward top fuse skin was the very last riveting I did before the DAR inspection. VERY glad I waited.
You won't appreciate working on wiring, avionics, etc from top access until you've done the contortionist thing scrunching under the panel on your back. For some of us older guys ;) you can squirm yourself into a spot you can't escape from w/o help. Really.
 
Re - stiffeners -

I did not want to loose the stiffness offered with the ribs. As mounted, it is pretty stiff.

IMG_0965.JPG
 
Like everyone has said, wait as long as you can, and THEN WAIT LONGER!!! If you haven't finished wiring, you shouldn't even be thinking of riveting it yet.

I thought I had everything done, but quickly realized there was more to do once I riveted it on. Don't be in a hurry. Your back will thank you.

As to the the support ribs, I too cut them off and then fabricated 2 ribs that operated as both support ribs for the panel and to support the radio stack/nav stack in the middle.
 
A couple questions about riveting the forward top skin:

  1. Do you leave the electronic components in place when riveting? I worry about the rivet gun vibrations damaging equipment attached to ribs, like the AHRS, Engine Monitor box, ADS-B Receiver, Transponder, etc.
  2. How do you fit the top engine cowl without riveting the forward top skin? I'm using Skybolts... just cleco the tabs on?

Thanks,
Russ
 
I have sky bolts

The sky bolts have some give to them, not a lot. Plus as the cowl heats up it tend to flex and settle in to the right spot once everything is tight.

With regard to the forward skin, whenever you have it cleakoed in place for fitting something make sure that you use a ton of clecos. Normal we just put in a couple clecos to hold a piece in place, for the forward skin I only skipped every other hole, it used up my whole bucket of clecos. That will get it as close to right as you can. It will shift a bit when you rivet. Just use a ton of clecos.
 
A temporary rivet trick ....

You can buy all-aluminum cheapo blind rivets in 3/32 size ... they come out with a mere touch of a drill. I used those in every 2nd or 3rd rivet hole to hold the Camlok strips in place until I was ready to rivet the front top panel. You can find those rivets at McMaster-Carr... i'd have to look for the product number.
 
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