With the main structure now riveted together and the seats clamped in place, I fitted the baggage floors to the ribs.
Next up was to work the outer ribs into place. This involved fluting the ribs so that they curved to match the outside skin. I then drew a centre line mark for drilling.
With everything in place I carefully started drilling all the holes on the top and sides. I was working alone today so I couldn’t flip it over to drill the underside holes so I improvised!
Using my full face mask I laid on my back and drilled the belly skin to the rib using the centre line I drew earlier as a guide. Worked out pretty well in the end. Lastly I drilled the end holes up to final sizes for rivets and the bolt.
Next on the list was to drill all the seat and baggage floors to the ribs. That was one of the easier jobs on the list. Once the seat and baggage floors were drilled I enlisted the help of my two kids to help me join this section to the rear fuselage. I’ve finally found a use for teenagers!
After what felt like an eternity for the kids (7 minutes for us humans) the two sections were now one and I admired the structure over a well earned coffee. Finally, I fitted the side skins to help keep everything square and to give the whole structure a bit of strength while I’m away from the workshop.
It’s really rewarding to see this structure take shape.