September 2, 2005 - Aft Fuselage Tailcone

It's back to the tailcone again.  You may recall, the problem is that the tailcone is not prebent enough to conform to the F-711 and F-712 bulkheads.  I ended up clamping the tailcone to the workbench with a 1 1/2" dowell as shown, then bending it by hand.  After many iterations, I got it done.  If I was doing it over again, I would take it to a local machine shop right off the bat and have it bent there using proper tools.  Probably take one minute using the right tools.  I spent hours on this thing.
Clecoing in the bulkheads to check the fit.
Once I got the tailcone bent fairly close, and cut out the mousehole, I put the WD-409 tailspring bracket in. 
The tailspring bracket is the black welded steel piece.  It does not come powdercoated like all the previous steel pieces.
Top view.
The entire tailcone assembly sitting in the aft fuselage.  I quickly realized I would need to trim the ends of the J-stringers a little more.
 
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