The ribs for the rear floor were initially prepared on the 04th November 2023. As the M4 rivenuts did not fit into the holes, we asked for clarification by the distributor. After some messages back and forth, they asked us to expand the holes to fit the M4 rivenuts. It seems that those ribs were initially made for the Sling 4 and not the Sling TSi. Once the basic assembly of the rear floor was in place, we added the bracket for the elevator autopilot servo....
To better fit the skin of the parachute cover, ribs 3 and 2 need to have a bunch of holes dimpled. For dimpling we use the DRDT-2 from ExperimentalAero. We dimpled the parts prior to cleaning and priming to have a better fitting of the primer. After some more cleaning and priming, the parts came together quite nicley. We did not have any issues with rib 3 but with rib 2 as the construction manual shows 4x 3....
During the last days, we took quite some time to prepare, prime and rivet the next bunch of ribs. Starting with rib 6 which includes some parts sliding through a slot of other parts. Besides the construction manual only showing 7 rivets to connect the parts 1 and 4 after sliding the parts together, we shot rivets in all 9 holes. The next step would be to combine the first set of ribs together....
Today, I took the time to clean, prime and cleco the first two ribs together. As the parts for rib 9 are still on backorder, I started with ribs 8 and 7. I use 3M Scotch-Brite Pads (red) to prepare the surface for priming. Once the surface is a brushed, I use Aceton to clean of any grease traces. As soon as the parts are dry and the Aceton is vaporized, I apply FINIXA Etch Primer to the parts....