I completed the second F-718 longeron by match drilling the aft canopy deck to it. Then I used a rubber mallet with the angle clamped in a vise to create the downward bend, then used vise grip pliers to create the required twist in the forward end of the longeron. All in all this dreaded longeron fabrication went quite well, mostly thanks to the Bueller dies I used to bend in the curve.
The next task was to cut the J-Channel parts to length and trim the ends. The plans ended up being a bit skechy on this but I made final trim adjustems once they were installed.
Next came the initial assembly of the rear fuselage. This is visually very satisfying as you get to create something really big and it doesn't take long. Bulkheads 706 through 712 were clecoed to the bottom and side skins and tailcone skin. Some of this took a good bit of encouragement to get clecoed and I still have some work to do on the tailcone skin. The aft fuselage plumbed square so next step will be to drill in the J-Channel stringers, then drill the remainder of the aft fuselage.
