Flush riveting

[Idunno]

Hello everyone,

I'm running out of parts to make and pilot drill on my Waiex tail and I'm getting to the point of deciding on flush or standard rivets. I bought my kit second hand without the flush rivet option. What is included for the flush rivet option? Is it just more ccc rivets instead of ccp? Can I just order these from Aircraft Spruce and convert my kit to flush rivets? I'm thinking that I will flush rivet the tail and see how it goes before deciding on the rest.


Thanks!

[Bryan Cotton]

Scott,
You should be able to just buy flush rivets and flush rivet it. You will also need the correct dimple die. One thing I have noticed about Sonex is they use minimum flange lengths. You may want two dimple die sets - one to grind for clearance and one kept pristine. A c-frame dimpler would be handy with the skins though that is not the only way to skin that cat.

[XenosN42]

Hi Scott,

The flush rivet option just replaces many (but not all) of the CCP rivets with CCC rivets. For some reason CCC rivets are more expensive than CCP rivets. The best place to order the CCC rivets is from Sonex. You probably won't be able to find a cheaper price. That's because Sonex is the largest buyer of those rivet types. You should contact the sales group. I'd bet that they will give you a credit for any full bags of CCP rivets that you return.

Also order two sets of the 'simple dimple dies'. They are cheap. One you'll use as is, and the other you'll need to grind off one side for those 'tight fit' spots.

You may want to make your final drill hole a #31 instead of a #30 if you are going to dimple. That's because the dimple operation slightly opens up the hole. Just my observation.

You didn't say why you are thinking about flush rivets. For me the deciding factor was that I polished my XENOS airframe. Polish with flush rivets - not bad. Polish with proud rivets - more of a problem. What happens is that the polish builds up around the proud rivets as the polish bonnet moves past them. That takes a bit more time to clean up with microfiber cloths before you move on to the next section.

Have fun.