Definitions
 

Hi fellows!

Due to my rusty english I can´t understand two concepts

What´s the meaning of weathering and what relation has this verb with the wood?

Bulkhead and former is the same?


Alberto

RE: Definitions
 

If I understand your question, weathering is what the weather does to the wood.. darkens it, colors it, changes it due to weather changes and environmental effects.

I think the term bulkhead and former can be used in the same way. The former, 'forms' the shape of the fuselage. If you see bulkhead in the same format, then I would assume that you can use it in the same manner. A firewall, for instance can be a former, but it is the one that is immediately behind the engine so it's a 'firewall'. It comes from the term to potect the rest of the plane from fires in the engine compartment.

RE: Definitions
 

In my "minds eye" a bulkhead and former are basically the same although I would expect a "bulkhead" to be of higher strength.

RE: Definitions
 

bulk·head
a. One of the upright partitions dividing a ship into compartments and serving to add structural rigidity and to prevent the spread of leakage or fire.
b. A partition or wall serving a similar purpose in a vehicle, such as an aircraft or spacecraft.

RE: Definitions
 

Weathering can be anything that makes your plane, or any model for that matter, look old and used. A brand new warbird, for example, has a perfect paint job, shiny metal, no cracks in the tires. One that has sat for a time on the airport flightline, or seen a lot of combat time, is scratched, has oil and grease stains, dents, oxidized areas on the metalwork, dirty, and all these things can be considered "weathering". In relation to wood, weathered wood is more worn, the natural color of the wood has darkened, the grain is more pronounced from being eroded by exposure to the elements.

I see a former as bing more of a skeleton part of a framework, meant to give something a part of it's shape, and a bulkhead as being more of a solid piece that partitions something or supports a very heavy load, as the firewall in an airplane. I think a bulkhead can be a former, but I don't think of a former as being strong enough to serve as a bulkhead.