There are pros and cons to flipping the fuselage. It is a decision that is made based on whether you plan on working with someone else to rivet the skins on. If you keep the fuselage upright you can theoretically rivet most areas solo allowing a more flexible schedule, but a higher degree of difficultly (and thus quality escapes). If you flip the fuselage (like I did), it allows for mostly easy riveting as long as you have someone with you. Since I’ve accrued quite a dedicated build crew I decided going the two-person route would work for me. Plus… isn’t the build all about community?

With the fuselage flipped I went about coordinating the first of many build sessions with Sam, Jack, and Adam. First major milestone would be the fwd side skin riveting. For the most part, the flipped fuselage worked to our advantage allowing easy access to the backside of the rivets for the bucker. By using small stools, and a shared tool tray we each had access to what we needed.