Here is a sketch I hope helps to explain the image orientation better.
Note the nose and tail were not labeled correctly on the images and may have caused confusion.
Greg,
I tried drawing some lines down the rivet patterns to try to determine the direction of spread, whether they drift to port or starboard as they proceed aft, ... the overhead photo does prove to be a challange...inconclusive to me ....the drawing shows a merging of the rivet pattern as it proceeds aft, this is also evident along the rivet line closest to the keel line as well,....it seems confusing ,maybe a new drawing is in order? I still question the purported positioning of the panel here ,due to the rivet spacing...even allowing for the panels distorted shape , I think it would be hard to fit the artifacts 4" rivet spacing onto the stringers if they were indeed 3 " apart on center....If the rivet pattern does prove to expand outward as one moves aft , what prevents one from rotating the panel 180 degrees clockwise and moving it toward the nose?
I noticed some dimensions strings did not click to the rivet holes in that exhibit showing dimensions for the rivet lines. I thought something was not right about it, but remember what Ric said in Reply 147
“The measurements in the illustration at
http://tighar.org/wiki/File:2-2-V-1_interior_CAD.png were done from a tracing and they don't match measurements I just made on the actual artifact. These errors have haunted our evaluation of this artifact for years and we're just now sorting them out.”
The sketch I did before was just to help clear up a conflict with an exhibit and what was being said, so we can all understand what the theory is and be on the same page in questioning it.
I did my own sketch just to check the taper. Note it is NOT TO SCALE. It’s a photo and I was not trying to determine the size of anything. Only the taper direction.
I picked the middle portion to check. (It seemed the tears on the ends could have even more distortion) Per this sketch they taper so they are closer as they go to the tail.
(The “Tail” is as oriented in the latest hypothesized location)