Ivan's RV-7

The outboard rib and the reinforcing ring.Timer icon2.5h

June 28, 2025

Today I worked on the outboard rib.

The difference with the other ribs is that all the rivets could be squeezed, and it makes the process much faster.

Here are the two photos of the rib, as per tradition.

Since I had some life left in the sealant mix, I decided to squeeze some more work time, and riveted the reinforcement ring and the nutplates to the inbard rib. Probably, wasn't a great idea because I really had to rush the rivets. Also, since the tank sealant acts as a lubricant, keeping the squeezer straight was a bit of a challenge. Plus, I had to squeeze with the edges of the dies (rather than between the centers), which made it even harder.

The end result.

The

And the inboard side of it (with some rivets marked with blue -- I replaced them the next day).