01/09/2007 - The month of September starts

Research on the web yielded some results. Some followed the Vans instructions using dimpling and countersinking, some countersunk the trim plate only and then I found another way.  The oops way.

A little while ago I had bough an 'Oops kit'  basically they are rescue rivets if you have made a hole to big but the head is the same size with a larger shank.

The builder used the same size rivet as specified in the plans, basically an AD426AD3-3.5 but from the Oops kit, he used NAS1097AD3-3.5.  The NAS rivet has a much smaller head, and the builder went onto explain that this is not a structural part of the aircraft and they are just holding the plate nuts straight.  The second picture below shows the difference in size.

This meant that I could countersink the stiffener plate and leave the platenuts themselves alone.  The smaller head means that the countersink is quite shallow.  Winner !

Of course I practised first ....

Then it was time to do one for real, and I was very pleased with the result.  The first picture shows the NAS rivet in place and the second with it removed to show the countersink.

It did not take too long to finish all the holes.  Overall pretty pleased.

I spent some time on the counterweight then.  Drilling the screw attach holes and making the corresponding countersinks for the screw dimples.