Practice makes Progress

While Sam and I were finishing up the workshop, we watched a YouTube series called Metal Magic. It’s a fantastic series for novice to experienced builders, hosted by Paul Dye, a multi-time builder and former NASA Flight Director. The series covers essential metal-working tasks and tools for any airplane with metal components. This series was incredibly helpful and left us feeling ready and motivated to try our first riveting. One of the tips we picked up during this time was to complete at least 100 rivets before starting the actual plane. Sam and I thought this was a great plan and decided we would complete those 100 rivets before diving into the three practice kits we purchased.

With all the prep work done, tools inventoried, and everything in place, it was finally time to start practicing.

Our 100 Rivets

Oof! Let’s just say that practice makes perfect—or at least progress. Our first set of 10 rivets was rough. We had the drilling, match drilling, and cleco-ing down pat, but riveting itself was a whole different story. I really struggled with the rivet gun and holding the bucking bar steady, which left some serious marks and damage on our first piece of aluminum. Thankfully, Sam was incredibly gracious. He noticed other flaws in our setup that might have contributed to my struggles, and together we worked on a better approach for handling the rivet gun and supporting the back of the rivet.

Regardless, I’ll admit I was a bit scared of the rivet gun and my apparent lack of control over it.

That same week, we met with our EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) group and explained the issues I was having with the rivet gun. They immediately identified the problem: our air compressor was set WAY too high at 90 PSI. For riveting, we needed to lower it to about 40 PSI. It was such a simple fix that we hadn’t even considered.

That afternoon, after grabbing lunch, we headed back to the hangar to test this theory. BAZINGA! That was it. With the pressure turned down, I felt much more in control and far less intimidated by the rivet gun.

With that hurdle overcome, we quickly knocked out the rest of our 100 practice rivets.

First Practice Kit

This project was a straightforward introduction to the basics of metalworking: fabricating, match drilling, dimpling, installing hardware, and riveting. It helped reinforce the fundamentals and gave us more confidence in our abilities.

Second Practice Kit

This kit was similar in design to the first but emphasized producing cleaner, more precise rivets. By this point, we were seeing noticeable improvement in our technique and the final results.

Largest and Final Practice Kit

The third and final kit was a sample airfoil. This project was more complex and challenging, really putting our skills to the test. Not only was it fun, but it also taught us a few more tricks and techniques to add to our repertoire. It was incredibly satisfying to see how far we’d come by the end of this project.

Practicing those 100 rivets and working through the three kits was an invaluable experience. Each step brought new challenges and lessons, but it also brought us closer to feeling ready to tackle the real thing. We’re excited for what’s next and confident that the skills we’ve built during this practice phase will serve us well in the future.

We have our Empennage Kit!! Time to start the plane!!

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