August 17, 2002  10 hours

I started on the aft section today.  This was a good day as you get to put the small pieces together into one large section.

The first step was to cut the longerons to the correct length.  Then you notch the aft ends.  Mark left, right, aft, forward and the skin side versus the up side or you'll screw up. This is the aft ends cut.

Then you get to bend these perfectly straight sticks of angle.

These are the 721B (I think that's the right part number) attached to the longerons.  These will also verify that your bend is correct.

It's starting to take shape.

The start of the tail section.

The aft fuselage section clecoed together.

The tail section attached to the aft section.

This is where I left it for the night.  The J channel on the right side is drilled in place.  Everything is level and I verified no twist.

August 19, 2002  2 hours

I finished drilling all the holes in the aft fuselage.  Then it was time to start taking it back apart to get ready for de-burring and dimpling.  There's a lot of holes here!

August 20, 2002  2.5 hours

It's take a side skin off, melt the plastic covering the skin over the holes on the outside with a hot but dull soldering iron, de-burr the outside, remove all the plastic from the inside, de-burr the inside then dimple.  Remember how many holes were in the wings: well there are a bunch of holes here as well!  It'll take me a couple more nights to finish this up and start putting it back together.

August 21, 2002  2 hours

De-burred and dimpled the left skin.  De-burred, polished the edges, de-burred and primed the 4 lower J channels.

August 22, 2002  2.5 hours

Continued de-burring and dimpling.

August 23, 2002 3 hours

Finished de-burring and started putting it all back together.  Also riveted the 712 & 711 bulkheads to the 779 tail skin.

August 24, 2002  9 hours (7 for me and 2 for Linda)

Wow! What a day.  The rear fuselage is completely riveted together.  Well, really it riveted to the point that you can at this time.  You don't rivet above the top "J" channel so that the skin can be pulled back later to insert the longerons.  There's not much to say: it was just a day of riveting.  I worked from the aft to the front, riveting both the J channels between a bulkhead on one side, then catch the other side up and finally, rivet the bulkhead in place. 

Linda came out and helped me for a couple hours today by bucking the rivets on the bottom of the fuselage.  I would not have been able to finish without her help.  We turned the fuselage upside down and taped the rivets in place in all the holes between the cleco's that I had holding the skin in place.  Then flipped it back over and I crawled under the fuse to drive while Linda bucked. 

Here's a few pictures of the completed aft fuselage.

You don't rivet above the top J channel and you don't rivet the F-706 at this time.

View from the rear.

Looking down between the 711 & 712 bulkhead.  You'll notice that there is a tie down bracket and there is not a tail wheel attachment point. 

And finally, a shot looking inside from aft to forward.