Finished F-757 Plate and Most of Tailcone Rivets

I finished the left F-757 plate and drilled it to the F-705 channel and longeron.

There were two holes in the aft fuselage that I couldn’t dimple earlier because I inadvertently riveted too far up F-711.  The vertical bars prevent getting a squeezer aligned with these holes, so I needed to get creative.  Since the longeron is already dimpled and thick enough not to flex, I could just use the male portion of the die to form the dimple.  Since the vertical bars prevent clamping directly, I used a scrap piece of angle and some clamps to either side to drive the male dimple die flush with the skin.  This worked perfectly, and a rivet sits completely flush in the hole.

I managed to squeeze all of the remaining holes with the exception of the upper two holes in the forward flange of F-711.  I’ll have to shoot these, but it’s too late to run the rivet gun tonight.

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