Try it this way.
1. Start with a cylinder. Rotate it so it lies horizontally.
2. Select (triangle mode) the right end.
3. Extrude 2 amount
4. Select (vertex mode) the newly created right end.
5. Place the mouse on the bottom vertex of the selected end and bend it to the right. (You must have set your rotate center at "mouse position" in "options" for this to work without distortion.)
6. Repeat steps 2 thru 5 for each segment of the arc.
Once you've done it this way, you'll see how much easier it is to extrude 8 segments to begin with and move the groups.
Forget what I said about the numbers. That was wrong. For an exact amount of bend on each segment go to "options" and set the "rotate snap" to an appropriate number.
Hope this helps.
