First Section Done! Woo.

Okay, so it’s a two-page section, but it’s done.

I primed the angle, clecoed and riveted them in place, added the rivets to the pre-installed pieces, and tapped the tie-down attach points.  Total time:  Approximately 1.75hrs (today).

Spars with primed angle

No flash picture of the spars

View of the inboard pulled rivets

I had a chance to use the P26A close-quarters hand riveter that came in from Avery yesterday.  Daaaamn, that thing is nice.  And daaaamn that thing sucks.  Nice because it gets right in as advertised.  Sucky because it’s slow and, well, manual.  I’m an automated tool kinda guy.  Any tool with a button to activate it gets bonus points in my book.  If I can use it effectively while I’m sitting in my Barcalounger and drinking a beer…I just might marry such a tool, come to think of it.  The P26A is the exact opposite of automatic.  I can already tell that my forearms are about to triple in size.  But it works like a champ.  TIP: Wrap a layer of duct tape around the business end of it to keep the thing from marring your work during use.

I examined each pulled rivet for angle and grip.  I found just one rivet that didn’t meet the Van’s standards (it was tipped up off of the piece on one side), and it was punched, drilled and replaced.

I will add photos soon.  I’ve been lazy about taking the camera into the back yard these last few days.

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