What Rosie was doing

As a marketing tool, the Rosie campaign succeeded in bringing more than 3 million women into the workforce when most men were sent off to fight. Not all women were “riveters,” but those who were, were immensely proud of the work they did on the B–29s, B–17s, and Corsairs of the time. Because most aircraft designs are of sheet metal construction, thousands of rivets—simply a bolt without a nut—are used to hold aluminum sheets together. The small metal pins provide an effective, strong bond. Riveters use a “squeezer” or “gun” to shoot the rivet into place; the shank expands to form the tight seal. As many as 600,000 rivets were used to construct the B–29. The women who were riveters worked in pairs. One would install the rivet and hit it with the gun while the “bucker” would hold the “bucking bar”—a metal bar that forms the tail of the rivet. The bars are various shapes to fit into different aircraft.

Rivets are as essential to today’s aircraft manufacture and repair. The most common general aviation aircraft fastener is the solid rivet. According to Carlo Cilliers, AOPA’s airframe and powerplant mechanic, the rivet is just slightly smaller than the hole in the aluminum. The rivet gun applies a “shock wave” of pressure, he says, that causes the rivet to expand into the space. “It’s a huge force at just a microsecond; like a mini jackhammer forcing the rivet up against a hard place,” he said.

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