Horizontal stabilizer riveting

I've been doing a lot of HS riveting now that all the parts are primed:

All the primed parts from last week, plus spars (priming and riveting done some time back)
I started by riveting the inboard ribs plus stringers, then attaching those to the front spar:

Stringers / most inboard ribs riveted to the front spar
Next was adding the other inspar ribs (except the outboard 2) and rivet them as well:

All inboard ribs riveted to the spar/ribs/stringers assembly
The nose ribs were riveted to the skins (a bit challenging given the little clearance for the bucking bar):

Riveting the nose ribs into the skins
The front spar assembly is then inserted into the skins:

Spar/rib assembly inserted back into the skins
It is riveted to the nose ribs using a mix of solid and pop rivets:

Pop rivets to attach the front spar to the nose ribs

Rivets attaching the inboard nose ribs to the front spar
Then the last 2 outboard ribs are added and riveted (one with pop rivets, the other with solid ones):

Outboard inspar ribs riveted
The next step is riveting the entire front spar to the skin, which was a lot of work (over 180 rivets):

Those front spar rivets behind the stringers were annoying to reach with the bucking bar

Nose ribs and front spar riveted to skin
Nose ribs and front spar riveted to the skin

There are a few rivets left to do on the left bottom skin to front spar attachment, then I'll start riveting up the inspar ribs.

Time lapse:


Total horizontal stabilizer time: 109.4h
Total horizontal stabilizer rivets: 491

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