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Yup, her help is much appreciated! Makes riveting the top skins on so much easier than trying to do it all myself.

Thanks! Yeah, it's definitely a lot of work to drill, debur and rivet everything, but I'm enjoying it and I know I'll reach the end eventually...

Haha, I see what you mean Ed! I've watched several of your build videos and see the similarities. Hope you bring your website back up at some point as I recall getting a bunch of useful hints from there as well!

If you're referring to the 1/8" holes I drilled for the static line attachment brackets along the top stiffener, I didn't talk to Van's builder support about doing that as I have seen other builder's do the same thing. I have, however, spoken to builder support for other stiffener questions I had, and they told me that stiffeners are solely there to support the skin and help prevent oil canning. The J-channel stiffeners have no impact on structural support (which is provided by the longerons, bulkheads, spars and ribs). There are also other cases where you might drill into the stiffeners, for example, to install avionics platforms and supports, so I am not worried about making a few additional holes.

Hi David, I too had a tough time bucking the 470 rivets initially with just the rivet set. Some time around the horizontal stabilizer build I discovered "Snap-Soc" rivet set caps that fit over the cupped rivet sets. I got mine from Brown Tool www.browntool.com/Listview/tabid/344/txtSearch/soc/ProductID/100/Default.aspx ,and they are great for preventing smilies around the edges of the 1/8" universal head rivets. They're not that cheap, but each one lasts about 40-50 rivets before the cap needs to be replaced. I also put a piece of duct tape over the manufactured head to prevent marring of the head itself, and now am very happy with how the set rivets are looking. Hope that helps!

Amazing, ordered a set and will give it a go tomorrow. Thanks again!

Hi @geedouglas, for countersinking to accept dimpled skins I have stuck with going just 7 clicks past flush on the countersink cage. You are correct that the skin may not sit completely flat prior to riveting, but I have found that setting the rivet pulls the parts together and ensures a tight fit. I would be hesitant to countersink deeper due to the risk of having a gap remain between the dimple and the countersunk hole after riveting, which would cause the rivet to loosen over time. I think that as long as you are confident that the skin dimples sit tight in the holes after riveting, you should be fine. Hope that helps!