March 22, 2005

big mistake, put skins on opposite side

Man I screwed this one up. I was making such kick butt progress I wasn't able to notice that the forward spar was upside down which caused me to rivet the left skin on the right and vise versa. I discovered it when I noticed the my accidental dimple impaling hole didn't line up with the rib hole correction. At first I thought I just mixed up the ribs but then I noticed the 814 in the wrong place and then it looked like I put the trim hole on the wrong side. I freaked out and drilled out the rivets that connect the inboard ribs to the forward spar in an effort to swap them for a better match with the skin. I should have quit, I had already turned the compressor off but no, I went at it for another 1 hour only to find that I need to deal with it and put the ribs back in their wrong place. But now it is difficult to rivet in that area as you can see from the bent rivet. I drilled a hole on the other side thinking the one was wrong but after looking at the print the next morning I realized that it was ok. I went to bed so depressed, but I know it will be ok and I will just learn that much more from it. I heard somewhere that mistake are great experiences. My main concern is safety, so I figure even thought I have added scratches, chips to areas I can't get too, for no reason, I think it will be safe. Both skins are the same, I can't see any problem except total accuracy which I think it will be with in specs good enough for me.