Picked up a flexible propane torch hose-kit that helped with heating & bending the upper longeron without assistance. I found using hardwood between a vice & both sides of the longeron to protect the aluminum from marks along with insulating the longeron from the vise so the vice didn't 'soak' up the heat on the aluminum speeding up the process of the bend.
I found bending to about 2 3/4" - 2 7/8" then hammering smooth the irregularities moved the bend to about 2 1/2". To tweak to 2 1/2" needed only clamping the (warm!) longeron on the bench with the front angling up - then carefully adjusting to 2 1/2".
Used a large carpenter square to measure from the long/aft part of the longeron to the front end which allowed for quick checks on the bend without losing to much heat at the bend.
