Building the Rans S-21, Episode 2, The Vertical Stab - Pt. 3
When we left off in Part 2, we had just finished drilling the holes in the forward spar and finished all of the final prep on the frame parts.
Now it is time to put all of that together. I began by riveting the doublers to the spars and then riveting on the hinges. For the doublers, I chose to use AN470AD-4 rivets rather than the Cherry Aluminum AAPQ pull rivets supplied in the kit. This is simply a personal preference thing and is not in any way intended to indicate any problems with the Rans design.
I simply prefer solid rivets wherever I can install them. It does take longer to prepare and set solid rivets than it does to pull blind rivets, so following the directions will be quicker than doing it my way.
What I did and how I did it is detailed int he video below.
For the last two places that I couldn't get with the squeezer I will probably dust off my rivet gun and dig out my favorite tungsten bucking bar and get on with it. Of course, I may also flake out and use the blind rivets supplied with the kit.
The next steps are to make provision for running the wires for the tail light and preparing the skins for finish. Stay tuned.
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