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Debo Cox - Zodiac 601 XL
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Date:  1-24-2009
Number of Hours:  4.00
Manual Reference:  6B
Brief Description:  Fuselage Hoop Bending/Skin Smoothing

Moving forward, I started bending the fuselage hoops today. I wasn't exactly sure how to proceed, so I started out by making a form block to fit the inside dimensions outlined on the plans. By screwing the block to the table, I was able to use a couple of other secured blocks to bend the hoop into its approximate shape around the block. There was a lot of springback, so I used my conduit bender to tweak here and there until it fit the form perfectly. On another note, I was really unhappy with the amount of puckering that happened when I riveted the top rear skin into place. It was one of those things that I KNEW was gonna eat at me, so I had to fix it. I drilled out the rivets that were puckering and fabricated some .040 shims to go under the skin. The shims are 20mm x 20mm and have an A4-size hole in them. I slid one under each drilled-out hole and re-riveted. Boom. No puckering. You can see the result in the pic below. Now I can finally sleep. The last pic shows another view of the front horizontal stabilizer shim fix described in the last log.
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The rear hoop bent to fit its form

The rear hoop bent to fit its form

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Now THAT'S smooth

Now THAT'S smooth

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Another shot of the front stab mount

Another shot of the front stab mount

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