Tool hall of fame............                                                          

Of all the specialty tools I've used in this build, a few have really lived up to or exceeded their billing.  Before starting the build, I bought Isham's RV-12 tool kit (~$1600), and have been quite pleased with it.  These tools shown, with the exception of the pneumatic puller and manual puller, are ones I bought in addition to the Isham kit.

 The red and black tool at the bottom of the picture is the recently mentioned tight-fit, right-angle drill from Aircraft Spruce.  It's used in conjunction with any other drill and accepts threaded bits which, of course, can be much shorter than normal bits (a #30 bit is in it).  Without this tool to drill out rivets, I'd have been in a world of hurt after the recently documented mistake.

Proceeding left to right is the Main Squeeze from Cleveland Aircraft Tools.  This manual squeezer has a cam arrangement which drastically increases mechanical advantage as the stroke progresses, making the 1/8th-inch rivets much easier to deal with.  The down side is that each rivet-squeezing stroke requires the handle to swing through about a 90-degree arc.  I still use my old squeezer for 3/32nd-inch rivets because I can use it with one hand while holding the part with the other.  In addition to what's shown, I have the tight-fit arbor for the Main Squeeze, which I've needed on a number of occasions.

The manual rivet puller is the one which came with the Isham kit, and will fit into tighter places than any I've seen.  In fact, I've rarely used the little wedges which the plans have builders make as a first step.

Next is my home brew rivet-hole-alignment tool.  It's a 1/8th-inch drift being held in a T-handle for a tap.  I tapered the end of the drift and polished it on my ScotchBrite wheel.  There are typically two or three rivet holes which must be aligned for each rivet to be inserted.  If initial alignment is too poor for the drift to be inserted, I first use an awl for rough alignment.

When lap joints are to be made for curving skins, it is frequently required to brake (or break, in Oregonian) the edges of the top skin in order to ensure a tight joint after riveting.  The Vise Grip with little rollers welded to the jaws accomplishes this easily.  I think I got it from Avery Tools.

The tool with the blue handle is the best edge deburring tool I've found for the large sheets.  It deburrs both edges at once (although only one edge needs it, usually) and the funky curved piece keeps the cutters at the correct angle.  Can't remember where I got it.

Finally to my favorite tool, the pneumatic rivet puller.  The only branding on it was a sticker which said Isham, so I don't know the manufacturer.  Works great.

(Page 21-17) (ah $#!t)^2                                            

The installation of the step attach angles and the steps themselves seemed easy enough.  Clecoing and match drilling, the usual stuff.  I quickly realized, however, that I'd made a major mistake: two of the step attach ribs had been reversed left to right.  The angles which provide the strength for supporting the boarding steps wouldn't fit the way I'd done it.  All the rivets attaching the ribs to the bulkhead and bottom skin would have to be drilled out.  Looking back at the build manual, the orientation of the angles is quite clear.  Don't know how I missed it.  The fix, at first, seemed impossible owing to space limitations.  Enter the tight-fit right-angle drill kit (see the next post for a picture).  I literally lost sleep trying to think of a way to overcome this.  As usual, once I acquired the correct tool, it was easy.  The tight-fit kit from Aircraft Spruce uses threaded bits and will fit into a space of about 1-1/2 inches.  Only cost ~$50.

BTW, step 21-18 should be done before step 21-7.  I could not have installed two of the nut plates in 21-18 had I followed the build manual.

(page 21-16) Thank you Dave Gamble............            

I had fired up the compressor for my favorite tool (the pneumatic rivet puller), positioned the bucket of LP4-3 rivets, summoned my courage since I was about to permanently seal away and make inaccessible most of the stuff between the belly skin and the floor, and almost started the process of installing several hundred rivets, when I decided to check Schmetterling Aviation.  I had watched the Homebuilt Help video, and everything looked straight forward.  Nothing raised a red flag.  Then I saw this from Dave Gamble's May 31, 2010 post.

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UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
Skip ahead to page 28-06. DO STEP 1 BEFORE PUTTING ON THE BELLY SKIN!!

Fortunately, at this point the belly skin was clecoed rather than riveted in place.  Page 28-06 calls for the installation of the blue fuel line fitting (shown in the picture).  The fitting has a 45-degree bend and the plane of the bend must be oriented at a 33 degree angle to the vertical.  A nut has to be screwed onto the opposite side of the bulkhead, requiring a wrench on both sides.  It was a PITA with the belly skin peeled back as shown, and I imagine it was considerably worse with the belly skin riveted in place.  The fitting would have to be reached from the top (it's upside down as shown) and the still-open region above the center channel.  I'm not sure my arm would have been long enough.  The build manual should be changed to reflect this.

Of course the real source of all the heartburn associated with this section is the impending "fix" for the landing gear problem.  Everyone is fairly certain that a couple of doublers will have to be riveted in place immediately aft of and below the wing spar.  I'll feel better when it's announced.  Although I feel that I have become world class at drilling out rivets, I'd prefer to never have to do it again.