...the rivit lines we saw would have to be vertical,
I don't think so -
...the contour to fit from the side of the fuselege towards the top need to have a slight roll in the vertical direction with the rivit line. The piece we saw in DC was opposite; the roll was perpendicular to the rivit line.
Look again - see what the
NTSB report says about 2-2-V-1.
In part, as you look at the photos of 2-2-V-1 in the NTSB report, consider the 'convex' view - it places the larger diameter, outer edge row of fasteners at the top - with the 'stiffener' rows (if that's what they are) tapering from narrow at left to wider at right: this could be a good fit for the fuselage in that area (the large rivet holes don't match the pitch of the lower window edge: 1.25" vs. 1.5" pitch).
Also, while the window appears to have been very close to a true rectangle, the fuselage taper in that area does not follow that pattern: look at the pix - the upper window edge departs the natural tapering 'waterline' slightly. It is the tapering nature of that section of the fuselage that suggests the taper we see in the stiffener lines.
NOW---- thats not to say that it didnt come from the Electra, or from the window patch repair.
Good candidate I believe - still looking at that and far from exhausting the possibility.
The wing-walk area is intriguing - possible; but I am holding with the window cover panel for now until I can exhaust that - the key may be the stiffener pattern and whether we can get a view of that 'patch' with enough resolution to see if any were present, what the line layout was, etc. Edge fasteners are also important - but the one surviving edge we see does not match the known pitch of the fasteners along that double-row at the lower water line of the window (artifact edge rivets pitch = 1.25", NR16020 rivet pitch along that water line appear to be more like 1.5", if I'm getting it right from the stations and rivet count).
Of course this thing could still have come from any number of other airplanes somehow. No definite match to the Electra, no dice.
Being it was found in the village, it 'could' have been altered.
It well could have been - but not likely in an 'aircraft' kind of way, i.e. rivet holes added in uniform pattern, etc.
Bending? Easily. Despite what we may each think of the 'contours'. For one thing you have to be careful about trusting the 'contour' anyway - this thing's been mauled pretty badly, and we don't know what from. It could have been hacked and peeled away from whatever the parent structure was by someone who wanted it for salvage - and that includes 're-making' the contour in any number of ways. The NTSB report does note that it was bent about 90 degrees at one place; there could have been alot of different angular forces working against it. Some force appears to have been exerted in a hydraulic fashion against the panel to press it outwards from its fasteners by what I am reading in the NTSB report, so that 'contouring' is evident too.
The length and width appear to be correct, but the contour bothers me.
Maybe we should make a run to Pensecola to look at the Electra there, and see if we can figure this out.
Back to the NTSB report and what I've said above - and considering that we may not be seeing a normal contour.
Actually - when you consider the NTSB report and what I recall of the artifact when we saw it, the stiffener lines to seem normal to the 'flat' span and the curve is natural (rolling perpendicular to the 'stiffener' lines, i.e. stiffeners would lie 'straight' more or less (fore and aft), but skin would 'roll' as it progressed vertically. We may recall it differently, so not to say I'm right - but I'm looking carefully at the pictures I took while there and trying to recall nuance as best I can. The NTSB report is helpful in interpreting what I saw.
Pensacola - eventually may do that if we can get the right door open to get close (I don't think the Museum of Naval Aviation will let us crawl all over their Electra without some arrangement...), that is if we don't have something better to compare it to after July (long shot, but hey...).
Interesting, huh?

LTM -