kens_cockpit
Well Known Member
Rather than drill out the rivets and remove the entire flange I only removed the bent part. I then fabricated a replacement piece to go in the centre of the flange where the two subpanels join. The replacement part is shown in the photograph attached. It does NOT attach to the remainder of the F803CPP flange on either side further outboard of this replacement piece. But it seemed to me that the strength in this area comes from the attachment to the forward skin (F821PP I think)and the subpanels themselves rather than the connection along the length of the F803CPP.
The question is whether this is satisfactory or whether I need to order an entire new F803CPP and replace it. I asked Vans and they said they don't have any thoughts about it because they haven't tried it. Fair enough, but should I drill out the rivets on the rest of the flange and put an entirely new one in or is it OK to run with this fix? What do you think?