Ivan's RV-7

Riveting the aileron brackets.Timer icon2h

March 24, 2025

Today I riveted the aileron brackets.

It would have been a much shorter session if I hadn't put the wrong rivet in one of the holes (universal AN470 instead of a flush AN426). Removing that one rivet was a major pain -- when multiple layers are involved, rivets tend to "swell" in between the layers and wouldn't come out easily.

In the end, I drilled it all the way through using a small drill bit, then cleared it from the hole.

The inboard aileron bracket.

View from the outside.

This top left flush rivet is the hole where I put the wrong rivet at first.

The outboard aileron bracket.

The outboard bracket outside view.

Did put the correct rivet in the outboard bracket, but I still had to remove it because I tried to squeeze it, and then the squeezer slipped!