I worked on a number of random things today, starting with riveting the aft end of the baggage ribs to the bulkhead. The outer two ribs were easy enough, but the rivet holes in the center two ribs butted right up against the edge of the plate behind the bulkhead (black), making it so a bucking bar couldn't completely set on the rivets. They're in, but they sure are ugly.
I made the rest of the splice plates that tie the vertical arms of the center bulkhead to the longerons, primed them, and riveted everything together.
Continuing with random things, I finally installed the tail tie down bracket. For now it's just held in place by a few rivets, but it'll eventually have 4 bolts in it as well (the bolts are also part of what holds the vertical stab on).
The steps are steel, so need to have some sort of corrosion proofing on the inside. Boiled linseed oil is far easier to deal with than primer, so I went that route. I just poured oil into the open tubes, then poured it back out and turned the steps upside down to drain. The linseed oil makes a nice shell over the metal once it dries. I'll spray some cheap primer over the outside before I actually install the steps. In the end, the steps will get good primer and paint, so for now I just want some primer on them to protect from rust while they sit. The cheap rattle can stuff wipes right off with acetone, so makes it easy to remove once it's time to paint.
I didn't get this next part quite done, but I started leveling the fuselage from side to side and front to back. This has to be done before the aft deck (a big plate back at the tail) is riveted on. The aft deck makes the fuselage rigid and locks in whatever twist exists, so it's important to spend time getting everything nice and straight. The bubble level is a little iffy, so it gave me an excuse to buy a little digital level. That's where I'll start tomorrow once I have that.
A long time ago when I was riveting one of the floor stiffeners to the center bulkhead and cover plate bracket (the triangular piece below), I messed up one of the rivets closest to the bulkhead. It was just too tight to get the rivet gun in right and I ended up really enlarging the hole when drilling out the rivet. Instead of trying to get another rivet in and likely messing it up to the point where it wasn't repairable, I decided to simply enlarge the hole and put a bolt in instead. That's major overkill for this area, but it's an acceptable repair method for large holes and much easier than having to replace the entire part. This entire area gets covered up by a couple of cover plates under the seats.
