Access Panel at rear bulkhead of fwd baggage compartment

Hi Folks,

I know I've read that many have added either a hinged access panel or plate panels to the aft bulkhead of the fwd baggage compartment. I'm going to do the same..

question, when did you folks choose to do this? I'm about to rivet those bulkheads to the upper gear cross support with the idea I'd add the access panel after I get a get a better idea of where everything else is going to go WRT to my instrument panel and other stuff... thoughts?

Thanks,
Ken

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Ken,
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Hi Ken,

I have an RV-8 QB so the decision was already made for me . I added one large removable panel before I riveted the top skin onto the fuselage. I installed it before I designed my electrical system. I ended up using this area to attach my 2 fuse panels.

Note, there is brace that runs from the top middle of the firewall to the bulkhead you will be cutting for the removable panel. Keep that in mind before you make the big cut.

Mike Draper
RV-8 N468RV
TMX 0360 CS, Pmags
Finishing, finishing, finishing,.....

RV8R999 said:

........when did you folks choose to do this? I'm about to rivet those bulkheads to the upper gear cross support......

Click to expand...

I chose to add the access panel before riveting the bulkhead to the upper gear support. Why? Working from the comfort of a stool or chair, any subassembly that can be worked on the bench is almost always much easier to accomplish than if working inside the airplane. This particular mod is easy and only added a few hours of additional labor. The payoff is outstanding access to the rear of the instrument panel that no other RV model can match....and you get a slider canopy too!

Access

Rick6a said:

I chose to add the access panel before riveting the bulkhead to the upper gear support. Why? Working from the comfort of a stool or chair, any subassembly that can be worked on the bench is almost always much easier to accomplish than if working inside the airplane. This particular mod is easy and only added a few hours of additional labor. The payoff is outstanding access to the rear of the instrument panel that no other RV model can match....and you get a slider canopy too!

Click to expand...

Ditto to Ricks suggestion. I did mine almost exactly like his photos show. Remember that it carries some structural load and arrange your fasteners and hinge to support that load in accordance with AC 43-13-1.

Reinforcement details?

I am about to perform this same modification. What thickness of reinforcement did you guys use around the periphery?

Details on how you set up the closure?

Regards,

Michael Wynn
RV 8 Finishing
San Ramon, CA

reinforcement

mlwynn said:

I am about to perform this same modification. What thickness of reinforcement did you guys use around the periphery?

Details on how you set up the closure?

Regards,

Michael Wynn
RV 8 Finishing
San Ramon, CA

Click to expand...

I believe that AC-43-13-1 states that material of equal thickness should suffice with rivet and screw spacing done at standard intervals should work.

There's a good deal of flight and landing load stress here although this bulkhead is only .025in. thick If you're overlapping the bulkhead as Rick and I did, you probably don't need reinforcement, but I put about twice as many nutplates and screws as rick did, as I tend to err on the conservitive side.

I too made mine similiar to Rick's. I did not use a doubler on the bulkhead
as the hinged door overlaps the cutout by 5/8". I used a thicker piece
of aluminum than the bulkhead for the access panel. Think it was .032.
Attached nut plates to the bulkhead. Screws through the access panel.
Screw heads facing forward. Best mod I made on my -8A.

Probably overkill but I already had a sheet of 2024 T3 .040 on hand and used that to carve out the one piece doubler. I then purchased a sheet of .032 6061 T6 from Wicks (had to check my invoice records to be sure) and made the bulkhead cover out of that. The cover is attached to the bulkhead using 5 equally spaced #8 screws and nutplates. The nutplates are attached to the doubler through the bulkhead and I almost always use NAS1097AD3 rivets to attach nutplates. Much more than an "oops" rivet as Van's would quaintly put it, and commonly used in aerospace production work, this rivet is especially useful in .025 sheet. The screw heads face forward for access through the baggage door opening.



As the photo in the original post vaguely shows, although most of the interior is Akzo epoxy primed, I left the skin shiny in that limited area to provide maximum light reflectivity. At one point I even toyed with the idea of adding a service light. Now that would be overkill.

Access panels

Don't forget to add one in the floor of the forward baggage to get to the brakes and also in the aft baggage hat box floor. I modified my second RV8 in the aft baggage with a plexiglass door. This allowed me to inspect the bell crank and autopilot servo rountinely with just a flashlight.

Pat
RV8
RV8A
RV10 building

Access Panel

Thanks for the feedback..I completed the access panel in about 4 hours (minus primer and final riveting) as per discussion in previous posts.

Talk about overkill though..I had a sheet of .065 2024 and used that for both the doubler and panel.

Great idea putting another access panel on the floor for brake maintenance. I'll just make a cover plate for that one - no hinges.

Thanks,

Ken