December 9, 2005 - Forward Fuselage

The next step was to cleco on the side skins.  The secret was to start with the aft-most bulkhead (F-706),  then the F-705, and finally the F-704.  It was a little tough getting the first one in the F-704 but once you did, the rest were easy. 
Until the longerons were drilled, I supported the F-704 with wooden blocks as shown. 
As you can see, the aft bottom corner of the side skin does not come pre-curled.  The builder gets to do that.  I was nervous about it since it appears to be a complicated joint. 
Looking at the side skin from the inside. 
You can see the longer starts its upward bend at exactly the same place as the skin. 
The longeron at the tailcone.  I was pleased with how nice it fit.
Both skins clecoed to the fuselage. 
The next step was to work on the arm rests.  The first step was to flute them "slightly".  They were bowed pretty badly; I had to flute them more than slightly. 
Another look at one of the arm rests.
After fluting, the pre-drilled holes in the armrest matched the skin perfectly.  Piece of cake to drill them to final size. 
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