Today I completed disassembly of the fuselage. While trying to get a third support under the fuselage (solo...) so I could take the load off of the center to aft fuselage joint, I inadvertently let the fuselage slide off one of the sawhorses. I caught it before it hit the floor, but the corner of the sawhorse gouged and dented the F-776 center fuselage bottom skin. Grrrrr....
The damage is worse than is evident in either of the first two photos below. I did try to tap the dent out, but only succeeded in making it worse. The skin is stretched enough to allow gross oil canning. I'm going to bite the bullet and order a new skin; after all there are only about 275 rivets to drill out... For the rest of the day’s maneuvering of the fuselage, I enlisted my wife's help. I just wish I had done that earlier...
Just so the day wouldn't be a total loss, I deburred all the holes in the forward and center fuselage skeleton parts, including the F-704 and F-705 bulkheads (photo 3).
The gouge and dent on the outside of the F-776 center fuselage bottom skin.
The damage from the inside.
Holes in skeleton parts are deburred. Skins are next.
