I think we have to be careful in looking at that tracing. That drawing was taken from tracings of a deformed piece of metal and it looks like the dimension strings are off, or the dimension might be to an interpreted guide line estimated for a string. It may be a paper laid flat and then dimensions taken from that paper, which may not be indicative of what the original curved form was. You may have to stretch a tape over the metal from each hole to hole to get a better idea of the taper and also determine how much the metal was stretched as well.
Looking at some pictures of the artifact it looks like it tapers different than this drawing would indicate. But that is only looking at a picture.
The taper and deformation is something I wish we had information on. It is hard to see by looking at a picture or a tracing. That computer technology to rebuild a crumpled sheet looks interesting.
We seem to have some added complexity in that the distortion is not all just from being 'bent'. As Kevin Weeks pointed out, 2024 T3 state aluminum can stretch up to 15% before cracking occurs - and we have odd cracks in this, mid-panel in some cases. We can't know for sure, short of some extremely sophisticated analysis of the piece to determine locally remaining ductility throughout, etc., just how deformed it is in the normal plane.
Not to say we can't get a reasonable working representation - which the adaptation you've shown here might be. I think as a practical matter we just have to make some allowance for the amount of distortion that may be present - even 10 to 15% in terms of flat pattern measurements in some areas showing extreme stress (like cracks).
Ric,
Are you bringing 2-2-V-1 with you to Dayton? Could be important to help researchers learn first-hand about the qualities of this artifact and help us have a more productive effort.