In article ,
Philippe wrote:

Orval Fairbairn wrote:



6063 is commercial cheese ... would be the lower strength of the three
alloys mentioned. Don't have data handly but you can find it on the web.

Nothing stopping you using it in an airplane if you select an appropriate
size to account for its lower strength. I have used it in some
modifications to a restricted category aircraft. Just be aware that you
cannot by 6063 to an accepted aeronautical spec such as QQ_A Fed Spec etc
so you might want to allow an extra margin of safety to account for the
commercial nature of the material.


Bottom line: DON'T do it! Real, aircraft grade aluminum is not all that
expensive -- just check the Airparts catalog or their ad in Sport
Aviation. 2024-T3 is the standard aircraft structural aluminum, and
substituting a lesser grade only adds weight and can reduce safety in
structural applications.

Are you sure that all aircraft parts are designed for ultimate stress
ability. Sometime, it's for stability in compression and the best ultimate
resistance is not needed.
For example, a 0.5mm skin on a MCR01 is oversized.
Another example: Zenith aircraft don't use 2024.


By

You should note that I specified STRUCTURAL aluminum. Yes, nonstructural
parts are made for other reasons and have a places for other grades of
aluminum.

BTW, Zenith also uses pop rivets rather than driven rivets, so they
should not be used as an example.