Here we are about to do the first rib-to-skin riveting of the project, where the center nose rib (HS-707) attaches to the horizontal stabilizer skin. I took the hint from a subsequent step in the instructions and temporarily clecoed HS-708 in place just behind it to help pull the skin down.
And, here's the result. This photo isn't the greatest, but these rivets turned out great. Mary ran the gun and I bucked, which turned out to be a good arrangement. I'll try to get a photo of that next time for all the guys at work who are trying to convince their wives to let them build an RV too. (you know who you are)
Then the forward spar assembly gets clecoed in place in preparation for riveting:
Here's a goofy photo of me trying to get the fiddly little blind rivets into the holes in HS-702/707/708. I think I eventually let Mary and her little hands do this job.
Both middle ribs get riveted to the forward spar:
Suddenly we're starting to have fewer loose parts laying around, and this big assembly is starting to take shape. Cool! Too bad I ran out of time to work on it. Anyway, extreme kudos to Mary for being so awesome and helping shoot rivets. I am a lucky man slash airplane builder.