Drilled Armrests and Made Conical Bend on Left Side

I drilled the armrests to the side skins and F-704 and F-705 (although the fuselage is upside down, I took this picture upside down so this is how the armrests will look from the cabin).  The arm rests need some minor fluting to get the holes to line up in the side skin.  This is unfortunate since this will be seen in the cockpit unless I add upholstery on the side walls.

The armrests are pretty flimsy, and I’ve heard numerous stories about people bending these when passengers get in and out of the plane.  There are several ways to strengthen these, so I’ll almost certainly modify them so they’re stronger.

Where the side skin meets the aft fuselage, this “ear” must be bent into a conic shape.  I first deburred the notch near the tight end of the cone since I’ve heard of several builders getting cracks there while bending.  I then clamped my back-rivet plate along the bend line and drilled a piece of scrap 1/8″ angle to the existing holes.  Afterward, I used the large crescent wrench seen here to create the bend.

Here is the left skin clecoed back in place.  Overall, this turned out pretty well and no cracks!