Patent ID: 8524025

Claim:
A method of manufacturing an aircraft fuselage, the method comprising: disposing a plurality of tapered caul plates onto an outer shell surface of an inner mandrel shell to form a mandrel with a lay-up surface, the outer shell surface further having an outer taper from a first shell end to a second shell end such that an outer diameter of the inner mandrel shell is larger at the first shell end than at the second shell end, and the plurality of tapered caul plates comprising a plurality of stiffener channels formed into a caul outer surface and comprising a first plate end having a first plate inner dimension and a second plate end having a second plate inner dimension, the first plate inner dimension being larger than the second plate inner dimension, the tapered caul plates complementing the tapered inner mandrel shell to produce a substantially uniform lay-up surface; laying up a plurality of resin impregnated stiffener fibers within the plurality of stiffener channels to form a plurality of stiffeners; and laying up a plurality of resin impregnated skin fibers onto the lay-up surface to form a unitary pre-cured section of the aircraft fuselage.