Access Holes

[BobDz]

Was reviewing the fuselage plan pages today and thinking about the 4" diameter access holes (and for that matter ANY access holes. I'm thinking of riveting in countersunk nut plates. Then dimpling the holes on the access cover and using a countersunk screw.

Too crazy?

[BRS]

Will look nice. The trade off is weight.

[Bryan Cotton]

This must be a B model thing. The access plates on my classic A model Waiex are a big rectangular one under the mixer, and two little circle ones under the aileron bellcranks. They are not dimpled for flush screws, but instead have normal pan head screws holding them on.

On my Hummelbird, every cover was done with nutplates and flush screws. The nutplates I used have a dimple for both the screw and the AN426-3 rivets, so it really does not weigh any more. If you want to use normal nutplates then you need a thicker piece of aluminum to countersink for the dimple in the cover. Then you get into extra weight like Brock says.

This is a whatever floats your boat thing, I think.