[autoglide]

Thanks in advance for all replies. I'm considering an 8"W X 5"T cutout for access to rear of the radio stack which is on the left side of my panel. Currently the space is so tight & impossible to get to the connectors. Would a cutout of this size degrade the integrity of the bulkhead? Facing the bulkhead from inside the baggage compartment the cutout would be in the upper panel to the right of center. The bulkhead is currently covered up with an upholstered panel. My preference is to NOT have to rivet in a doubler with nutplates to accept an 8" X 5" panel to cover the hole...which would bring it back to the orig. strength. MB

 

[autoglide]

Correction......size of opening will be 6"W X 4"T (if that makes any difference)

 

[Chino Tom]

I didn't use a doubler, but did rivet nut plates and use .032 for the
cover (hinged at the bottom). My cut out was much larger than the
one you are planning. Probably the most common -8/8A mod.
Here is a thread along the same lines.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=45285

 

[dav1111]

RV-8 Baggage Access Panel

Thanks in advance for all replies. I'm considering an 8"W X 5"T cutout for access to rear of the radio stack which is on the left side of my panel. Currently the space is so tight & impossible to get to the connectors. Would a cutout of this size degrade the integrity of the bulkhead? Facing the bulkhead from inside the baggage compartment the cutout would be in the upper panel to the right of center. The bulkhead is currently covered up with an upholstered panel. My preference is to NOT have to rivet in a doubler with nutplates to accept an 8" X 5" panel to cover the hole...which would bring it back to the orig. strength. MB

You might want to check out the RV-10 Tunnel Access Cover located at this website: http://www.airward.com/default.asp

Click on Van's RV-10 on the left hand side and the tab for the tunnel access kit will come up.

 

[cholladay]

Mine is also much larger, probably about 6''X24". I can access the entire panel from the rear. I did place a couple of vertical supports for strengh and the cover goes back on with nutplates. 275 hours and countless times I said to myself " I am so glad I did that"

 

[gpiney]

I have seen one -8 where the owner mounted the ATO fuse block and the pitot/static plumbing on the panel. When it dropped down - there it was. I will probably do the same. I 'sketched' mine out and it looks to be around 4x18",maybe a bit bigger.

 

[jferraro17]

I agree, and I've put a couple of the fuse blocks there too. I cut mine before I realized that the FastBack kit would allow extreme access tot he back of the panel, but I'm still glad I did it.

 

[panhandler1956]

Me too

I have an access panel with double and I have a fuse block on there too.
See pic below: