C wrote:
: The bulkhead is under the back of the rear seat and doesn't appear to
: be structural as it is thin aluminum. But there is a steel brace
: coming in from the flap area of the wing and rivited to the lower
: outside corner of the aluminum bulkhead.

: However on mine, just next to the steel brace on the baggage door side
: -- there is a inch long tear up from the bottom of the bulkhead and a
: small buckle in the aluminum brace above the tear. Its like there was
: a terrific upwards stress on the bottom corner of the bulkhead where
: the steel is rivited and it tore the aluminum bulkhead upwards.

Wow... that looks ugly. I just spend an inordinate amount of time looking at
the exact same area of my -140/180. We got FSDO approval for a 337 to add a -180
baggage floor back there. I spend 2 full weekends folded into a pretzel in the tail
of mine drilling out old rivets, drilling holes for, squeezing solid, and popping
blind new ones in.... all with the A&P saying, "Man, that looks uncomfortable." I was
quite disturbed about having to remove and replace a half dozen rivets on the
important-looking steel attach brackets in the corners. I'll be really ****ed if it
becomes an AD that requires removing the whole damn thing again!

I like the poster's explanation that it's a fore-aft torque that rippled it...
not a hard landing. A hard landing usually tries to push the mains struts through the
top of the wing, IIRC.

-Cory


************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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