Today was a pretty light day. I took the top half of the fuselage off the jig table, set it aside and cleaned the table off. I took the bottom half out from underneath the jig table and got it set up to bend. Other builders had placed 1 inch square steel tubing blocks under the bend points so the torch won't set the place on fire when the tubes are heated to bend. Sounds like a good Idea to me, so I did the same!
There are three bends to be made. The front of the fuselage from Station B to A needs to be bent up 2 inches. Station D to E needs to go up 2 1/2 inches and Station E to the tail post needs to go up 21 3/4 inches. All those measurements are based on the fuselage longeron centerline, so I have to add 1 inch to all those measurements to be accurate, allowing for the 1 inch steel tube stand-offs. Tomorrow is the day to bend. I have a friend coming over to help with the operation. It should go ok as there isn't much to prep for. It's the last step before the two fuselage halves get joined together.
