Most of my time in the shop today was spent coaxing the bottom curves on the major bulkheads into alignment with the prepunched holes in the bottom skin. The three bulkheads starting at the aft end of the mid-fuselage section and working towards the tail were the trickiest but careful application of two awls and some gentle tapping with a small dead-blow mallet got the holes aligned for clecoing. Once they are match drilled and dimpled, they should go together much easier. The holes where the bottom skin matches the conical portion of the mid-fuselage side skins and the aft bulkhead were also challenging but they do match with some careful persuasion.
A little time was also expended on the bulkheads at the extreme aft end of the fuselage. While the curved areas on these bulkheads were no problem, the straight vertical flanges were a little difficult due primarily to their stiffness. These bulkheads are doubled making them more rigid than the forward bulkheads. Their relative inflexibility makes it a litlle harder to coax them into alignment but again, the awls work well. Based on earlier experiences with some other airframe assemblies, I expect them to be much easier to assembled after match drilling and dimpling.
I went over the entire fuselage assembly and minimized the use of 3/32" clecos while ensuring flush fits between the airframe components. Hopefully, I will have enough silver clecos to complete the initial fuselage assembly and do the match drilling.
The last task for the day (had to go burn some avgas this afternoon) was to relocate the bench vise to my movable work island in preparation for bending the upper longerons. I plan to get these longerons bent and clamped into place tomorrow. Should be match drilling soon!
