SonexBuilders.net

I installed and riveted the lower forward skin, not the aft. I have yet to rivet the glareshield, install the gas tank or rig the wings and I now think riveting that bottom skin was a bad idea. I had checked w the factory and they just said to go ahead and rivet per the plans.

any thoughts on this? will I end up drilling out those rivets and pulling the skin to get at stuff?

peter

It is pretty awesome to be able to sit on the floor and work on stuff under the panel or in the forward wing roots. Neither of my skins are riveted yet.

As long as you don’t rivet the glare shield you should be fine. I riveted mine before rigging the wings after talking to Sonex and some other builders.

As a Waiex-A model builder I was glad I didn't rivet the forward fuse bottom skin until late in the project for ease of access, but don't believe it would have made anything impossible to do with it riveted. I imagine B models are similar but different... you may have given yourself some extra work (or not) by riveting it now, but by no means should it prevent progress going forward.

I riveted mine on as per the plans and regretted it many times. I think Jeff Shulz has a picture of him squashed in under the dash. I tried that and almost needed the fire brigade to get out. Leave it flecked for as long as you can.

The single center stick gives more access under the panel from inside the cockpit, but for some, even that will be too tight. That would have been true in my case were i an inch taller. The old lowered seat option, which makes for a deeper (longer front to back) seat, should also have provided a bit more room to maneuver ones torso under the panel. (I am not using that.) Still not a lot of fun, better to leave bottom panel off. But also need to remember that at some point after all is done you will still need to get back under there occasionally.

David A.

Thanks for the reply's. yes I crawled up under the glare shield to drill the longerons. I cant imagine what it will be like with the tank in place or even putting the tank in place. What concerns me the most though is getting at the nuts for the bolts that go thru the side skins and the upper engine mount attach fittings. That's one of the last things to do once the glare shield, tank, skirt are in place...

I do have a good chiropractor on call...

peter

I did not rivet the firewall or the aft fuselage skin until the last possible moment. That made rigging the wings and accessing things under the tank area much easier for me. I learned that from not doing it with the first Waiex I built.

The wings were rigged long before I hung the engine. You only need a fuselage in the boat stage to rig wings.

Lou Pappas