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I spent several evenings this week, plus this weekend fabricating a large access door in the aft wall of the forward baggage compartment. It was a bit of extra work, but it will give good access to the area ahead of the instrument panel, which will greatly facilitate the installation and maintenance of the avionics, instruments, etc. Today I assembled the bulkhead and riveted it in place.



I cut away most of the upper half of the F-866 bulkhead, then fabricated a one-inch wide 0.090 thick doubler to go around the hole to restore the lost strength. 0.090 is really overkill - I wanted to use 0.063, but the local metal supply place didn't have any. The door is hinged at the bottom, and held closed by four #8 screws. I'll mount my fuse blocks on the aft side of the door, so they will be readily accessible once I open the door.