Center section bulkhead web: OK to bend/tweak?

[N546RV]

I'll lead off with the important part: Seeing as how this concerns the center section, I'm going to email the factory regardless. However, since that means waiting until Tuesday or so, I'm also asking in here for a sanity check.

I started working on my center section today. Upon tearing open the plastic wrap containing all the center section bulkhead parts, I noticed that both bulkheads were damaged; one corner of the web on each one has been bent/curled a bit:



My gut says that since a) this bent area isn't near the wing spar attachment points and b) the bend isn't very severe or creased, that it should be OK to simply straighten the bent area and move on.

If possible, I'll wait until I get words from Van's before doing anything, but I don't want to get hung up on a nice long weekend like this, so I'm thinking that if I reach a point where the bends are an issue, I'll go ahead and straighten them and then get final approval from the mothership after the fact.

So basically, the sanity check is this: is there any reason that I should absolutely not try to straighten these bends?

Thanks!

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by N546RV

So basically, the sanity check is this: is there any reason that I should absolutely not try to straighten these bends?

Because the bends are of rather large radius (not a sharp concentrated bend) it is totally acceptable to straighten them.

After straightening you may see what looks like microscopic spider cracking (actually it might already be visible as a result of the initial bend). It is no cause for concern. It is just the anodized coating, which is very hard.

Having said that, I am not sure what sanity check posting the question here will do.... you will get answers swinging from both extremes.

[N546RV]

Well, it's kind of a moot point now. I just opened up the wrong [REDACTED] hole in the aft bulkhead for the rudder cable passthrough.