All the solid rivets in the main spar have been bucked. I can honestly say that I prefer the pull rivets over the solid rivets any day. Why? Bucking rivets is strenuous. I began on Friday and it started fun. But after a few dozen, my elbow was sore from holding the bucking bar, and I had a blister on hand from the hammer. The hammer is a nice pneumatic gun, but all those impacts that their toll. I had to quit after a while.

On Sunday I recruited Luka and his friend Caleb to help me by holding the bucking bar. After a few botched rivets, we got the hang of working together but time was tight and we only got about 100 rivets bucked before time ran out. There are over 300 in the main spar. So I continued today and toughed it out until they were all done. Whew.

For some reason the rivets that went through the angles, at the top and bottom, took much much longer to buck. Maybe 5 time more blows with the hammer. Where the angle tappered out, they got easy again. Not sure why. There must be something about the angles that absorbs the impacts, leaving less energy to squeeze the rivets.

Once complete, I managed to slide the spar into place. This was no easy task either. It required filing edges and some brute force with a rubber mallet to get it into place. I was careful not to damage anything and in the end it fit nicely. The brackets that attach the spar to the fuselage are in the works.

Spare in Plane First Rivets Rivetted Spar