Day 63

Exciting day. We were able to get the right fuel tank sealed and riveted today. It was quite the process to do.

We did our best to have everything prepared and ready to go. First thing in the morning, we bent the float rods for the fuel sender units and got them assembled to their respective ribs.

We then quickly went over our plan for assembling the tanks and set about mixing our first tube of sealant. We began by assembling the front section of the fuel tank inner frame that would make up the leading edge of the wing, applying sealant to the joining ribs and using closed ended rivets. This section was then Cleco’ed to the tank skin and then riveted in place. This process took some time, and marked about the half way point. Here we were able to assemble the fuel line fittings and finish setting up the fuel sender float. As well as go around the inside of the tank with a good bead of sealant, ensuring there was a good seal.

After a final check, we moved onto the backing channel, running a good bead of sealant on the mating surfaces. We’ve had a few issues with our caulk gun getting misaligned, so at this point we’ve been doing our best to manage along. Our first tube we ended up loosing the last small portion, but did our best to spread it out using our depressors sticks. Second tube went a bit further, and the third got us through to the end.

Once the back channel was in place and riveted on we got ready to finish up the angle brackets on the back, and a few rivets around the edges that things started to go awry. The rivet gun began jamming repeatedly, so it had to be torn apart and unjammed, which took time. We also had our air compressor motor burn up on us. So while we were working on an alternative for it we tried to finish with a hand pull riveter which also continued to jam every few rivets. In our frustration we also managed to place a few incorrect lengthens rivets which in turn had to be drilled out and replaced with correct ones.

We did finally though finish our first tank and Cleco’ed it to the wing to finish setting up and cleaned off the excess sealant from the skin. In spite of a few set back, it turned out very well. We look forward to leak testing it to see how we did, and are optimistic for no leaks. Tomorrow we will seal the last tank.