Help with tail cone skin

My bottom tail cone skin doesn't match up with the 3 aft bulkheads making the side skins stand off quite a bit. Do I make up a jig to bend the stiff bottom skin to better match the bulkheads or should I just try to horse it down flat when I rivet it to the side skin? Does anyone have a simple way to accurately reshape this skin? I don't think I'll get a very good result by horsing it down, so I probably answered my own question.

Here is a pic of the aft bulkhead showing how the bottom skin stands off at the edges.

Your bottom tail cone skin is definitely underbent and will require some rework. Mine did too, but not quite as bad as yours is.

Bottom skin

I had the same problem. Talked to Vans and they sent me a replacement. It was not much better. I ended up taking it to the local sheet metal shop and they placed it in their roll former and rolled each side. The fit was close to perfect.

Good luck. Steve

You can always duct tape the piece length wise to a large diameter piece of PVC pipe, or something similar. Then just roll it on a flat surface to re-form. Good duct tape will easily hold on. Duct tape can also be used to pull the parts into place while riveting.

L.Adamson ---- RV6A

I had to bend the tar out of mine. You start by going gently, to find that's not going to be enough. Then ratchet up how much strain you put on it. You can't believe how far it will bend and still spring back. But eventually you can work it into a reasonable shape.
When you do get it shaped right (took me about 30 minutes of fussing), make sure it's clearing all of the bulkhead tabs when you cleco it in place. It should fit in nicely after it's all done, especially to the 773 skin.

Thanks for the help....

I'll get back on it tomorrow.