Punctured pressure cabin.

In message , Cub Driver
writes

What do readers think is the result of decompression via a bullet hole?

snip

So are you worse off risking explosive decompression, or of crashing
into Times Square at midnight?

As to the possibility of explosive decompression, as I understand the
matter, it could happen if a bullet fractured a window (though not if
it went through the skin). That's a mere possibility, as opposed to
the certainty of a suicide dive, absent the sky marshal.

A normal bullet hole would be no problem. There's already a much
larger vent to the outside, which stabilizes cabin pressure against
the fresh & heated air being pumped in from the engines. People
smarter than I say that this hole is about three inches in diameter.

I'm glad you mentioned 3" in diameter. During my RAF service my wireless
mechanics had to pass a camera cable from a bomb bay into the pressure
cabin in a Valiant. To my surprise they found a hole about 3" diameter
in a convenient place.

I said 'surprise' because I was in Signals and knew nothing about the
structural properties of the aircraft. I imagined that the pressure
cabin would be tightly sealed.

What about the loss of a window due to bullet strike? Would there be
structural failure?

Mike
--
M.J.Powell