Horizontal Stabilizer Assembly

Wow there are a lot of rivets on this part! The dimpler got a good workout today, that's for sure:

The homemade C-frame dimpler in action

After dimpling the skins and prepping the rest of the parts, it was time to begin actually assembling the HS.

The skins set in their cradles, ready for final riveting and assembly

The nose ribs, riveted into the skins.

First, the nose ribs were riveted to the skins, after which the whole front spar, rib, and stringer assembly went in as one part. A few hundred rivets and many hours later, I had about half of the HS assembled. Dinner plans with friends brought the day to a close, which was probably good since I was starting to get very tired of the monotony of the whole riveting process!