Aluminum skin beneath the door

[SimonNicholson]

As I have raised my door sill to accommodate a seaplane door I have had to remake the skin below the door. I have decided to make this longer so my fabric will terminate on the vertical tube running down the rear of the doors.

I am trying to figure out the best way to attach this to the lower longeron

[jaredyates]

Can you add on tabs, or maybe use unpadded adep clamps to attach a parallel piece of 1/2 inch angle? I really doubt you want to drill holes in a longeron. In my case I wrapped the panel around and attached it to the aluminum belly piece, but yours goes too far aft for that.

[Gerhard Rieger]

I add tabs and will also attach it to the bottom plate

[EricP]

Nice! We considered doing this as well but finally just decided to stay with the fabric under the door. I like the metal look but by the time we had considered making it metal it was easier to stay with fabric.

[SimonNicholson]

Can you add on tabs, or maybe use unpadded adep clamps to attach a parallel piece of 1/2 inch angle? I really doubt you want to drill holes in a longeron. In my case I wrapped the panel around and attached it to the aluminum belly piece, but yours goes too far aft for that.

I was thinking about using a clamp solution. It will be an easy thing to try.

Gerhard , thanks for the pics. It looks great.

[Bdflies]

Looking back, if I were to re-do anything, it would probably be to do aluminum skins to the back edge of the rear windows. No huge cosmic issue here, just thinking that easier access to all the fuel lines and various systems, plus the fact that stuff gets beat up around door openings.
Gerhard's work looks great.

Bill

[Battson]

I was thinking about using a clamp solution. It will be an easy thing to try.

Gerhard , thanks for the pics. It looks great.

Experience teaches me that adel clamps can move during hard landings or big bumps, particularly if there's something pulling on them.
As long as they are installed in such a way that it doesn't matter if they move around and things come loose, then you're golden.

[SimonNicholson]

Experience teaches me that adel clamps can move during hard landings or big bumps, particularly if there's something pulling on them.
As long as they are installed in such a way that it doesn't matter if they move around and things come loose, then you're golden.

If you had to choose clamps or welding additional tabs, what would you choose. I am already doing a bit of welding to the fuse, like the float fittings, door hinges etc so I guess a bit more wouldn’t hurt.

[Battson]

If you had to choose clamps or welding additional tabs, what would you choose. I am already doing a bit of welding to the fuse, like the float fittings, door hinges etc so I guess a bit more wouldn’t hurt.

If you are confident welding, that is going to be a better solution long term. Routine maintenance and adel clamps are not good friends.
Personally I wasn't into welding the 4130N, which is why I ended up with clamps.