Ed_Wischmeyer
Well Known Member
Most of us, I suppose, are tired of unscrewing and re-screwing all those stupid screws on the two piece baggage bulkhead at condition inspection time -- especially if you're old and stiff and the hangar is hot in the middle of the summer. One "solution" is a one piece honeycomb bulkhead that would be stiff enough that only a few screws would be required to hold it in place.
The question, though, is how structural is the existing bulkhead? No surprise, Van's says that it is structural, end of discussion, but my eyeball engineering doesn't get it. Seems to me that with the horizontal creases in the aluminum, those bulkheads wouldn't carry any vertical loads. Similarly, it would seem that those bulkheads would only carry lateral tension loads, not compression loads. And there is the T shaped structure immediately behind the bulkhead...
Yes, we all have opinions on this, but do any structural engineers have observations on the topic? Please, no pontifications on what to do and what not to do.
The question, though, is how structural is the existing bulkhead? No surprise, Van's says that it is structural, end of discussion, but my eyeball engineering doesn't get it. Seems to me that with the horizontal creases in the aluminum, those bulkheads wouldn't carry any vertical loads. Similarly, it would seem that those bulkheads would only carry lateral tension loads, not compression loads. And there is the T shaped structure immediately behind the bulkhead...
Yes, we all have opinions on this, but do any structural engineers have observations on the topic? Please, no pontifications on what to do and what not to do.