With the first tech counselor visit complete, it was time to start on the horizontal again.

Whitney was looking for things to do, so I put her to work pulling clecos and inserting rivets. We got the top of one stabilizer riveted. Once again, the pneumatic squeezer came in handy. The only problem with using the squeezer is that a little finesse on the trigger is required. It’s very easy to slam the rivet in place rather than gently squeeze it. Also, an adjustable set is a must-have item for the squeezer.

One more thing…I’m just about ready to pitch my Avery rivet height gauge. The plans call for -3.5 rivets, which Avery’s gauge says is too short, i.e., not enough rivet shank protruding from the hole. I tried one -4 rivet which was the right length according to the gauge. That rivet was harder to set; the shop head tended to ‘cleat over’ and become lopsided. The rivets called out in the plans made almost perfect shop heads.