Step 5.6 Leading edge to spar

Well, I must confess, that attaching the leading edge is more difficult that I expected.  I fact, I hadn't even planned on posting on this subject as it would seem a trivial task.  I thought I would just mention that the leading edge sections were attached at the time of riveting the top skins.  I turns out though, it's not quite that easy.  The ribs in the leading edge section which we assembled in an earlier post, must be riveted to the spar. Preferably the manufactured head should be on the rib side of the assembly since, between the spar and the rib, the rib is the thinner material.

Leading edge section

leading edge section on spar

In order to rivet in that direction, the rivet gun needs to be inside the leading edge which means threading the gun and air hose through the lightening holes in the ribs.  Ok, so far.  Then one must put his arm through the same holes and maneuver the gun about in very tight quarters without denting or scratching the skins or spar.  Did I mention that my x-ray vision isn't too good these days?  That's right , the ribs on the inside bays must be done by braille.




After a lot of struggling on the outside bay, I gave up on the idea of driving the rivets in the proper direction, and decided that a backward rivet didn't sound so bad after all!

Driving the rivets from the back side of the spar is a lot easier from the rivetor's point of view.

However, I found that having a partner to buck was necessary going this direction because I was unable to stick my hand through the hole in the spar to hold the bucking bar.

No-go

 Fortunately, Carol came down to help me.  She could get her hand through the spar, but found it very difficult to hold the bucking bar without being able to see it or the rivet.  And so we switched positions and were able to slowly proceed.

Inside the leading edge section.  The spar is the gold anodized part.

So after an hour of that madness, we had only finished one rib -- 5 rivets.  At this point I was pretty disgusted with the whole situation and decided to pack it in for the night and go consult the oracle of all knowledge.  The internet, of course.

Well, it's amazing what you can find out when you know what to look for.  Based on what I read, it seems that I may be kind of a boob for even attempting to use solid rivets in there.  My mistake for following the manual.  In fairness though, I did read of several individuals who did manage to get the solid rivets in, although it's not clear if their rivets were placed in the preferred orientation.  I suspect that these extraordinary builders may have possessed the very rare, but nevertheless, requisite physical attributes:  X-ray vision, a very long right arm, and a very small left one (Tyrannosaurus Rex style).

So what is the alternative to the Van's method?  Use blind rivets otherwise known as pull-rivets.  On the recommendation of several builders online, I will be using Cherrymax brand available through Aircraft Spruce.  In addition to the pull rivets I will also need to grind down the pull rivet tool along its top edge for clearance to the rib, but I think most of the rivets will be accessible from inside the leading edge section.

The only difficulty with the Cherrymax rivets was, according to one builder, that super human strength is necessary to pop the rivets.  No problem :)