Day 165

Today we were able to get the front top skin fitted, match drilled and Cleco’ed into place.

We used a strap to hold the skin in place and used vice-grips with paint sticks to hold the corners flush with the fuselage side skins.

Starting from the center we used our hold duplicator tool to slide in between the panels and then match drill a hole. We continued this process moving between each side down. With the pressure from the strap you would have to remove half the Cleco’s to remove and replace the duplicator tool. A rather tedious process, but necessary as it insures everything lines up.

Once the front was completed we then moved on to the rear section. For this we had to make sure the panel was flush with the top skin. The process went pretty smoothly though. Same as before, started in the middle and worked down, alternating between sides.

Before completing the last 5 holes on each side, we measured the end pieces and made sure the were the same hight and drilled the last hole. Then finished match drilling down the sides. We then came back and finished the last few on the center line.