Finishing up the Mid Fuselage Bulkheads, I continue by locating all the parts for the next bulkheads. I clean up and deburr all the parts on the ScotchBright wheel. Next I start the process of assembling and match drilling all of the holes called out in the plans.
With the improving weather, I was able to finish preparing the final parts for chapter 25 and get them primed without too much fuss. Once the primer has had time to cure, I’m able to begin the final assembly of the last two bulkheads.
Nothing too difficult on the Rear Spar Bulkhead. Just about all of the rivets are easy enough to set (only a few of the rivets on the gussets were slightly difficult to access). The only item that gave me pause was the nutplate holes in the F-1005A spar. Plans had me drill #40 and #19 those holes, but wanted to verify I shouldn’t countersink. Took a few mins of going through the plans to verify – leave them alone for now.
With that done, I move onto the Fuselage Bulkhead assembly. Very straightforward and easy to rivet. (I probably could have used the squeezer, but was already rocking it with the rivet gun at this point.)
With these bulkheads done, I putting them aside and backtracking to the last few items on the wings. Need to finish up the ailerons, flaps, tanks, and mount the pitot mast. Worried if I don’t do these items now, then they will be on the back burner for a long time as space will become an issue. LOTS to do, just need to buckle down while the weather is nice!