MIL Acft Tech orders [SRM in particular] usually have fairly detailed series of station/waterline illustrations... so nailing down location is fairly easy... sadly not so for all GA/commercial Acft.
An old trick I have employed... for depot/stress review... is apply clear markings along-the-2-sides and both ends of the visible crack [with chalk or grease pencil]... then annotate the surrounding frames/ribs/intercostals/clips/brackets/stiffeners/longerons/spars/etc that I know-for-sure [and of course... general location like LH forward body, etc]. THEN I've taken a series of photos for context, moving-in-for close-up to the crack/damage [dents/scratches/punctures/scoring/etc]... with noted orientation in each one. Then I send the photos to someone one with access to drawings, to nail-down the exact location... and validate a repair [that I may/may-not have already outlined on the skin].
IF the IPB has detailed views... that another source to start with.
What makes all of this a pain... it existing repairs or un/poorly documented modifications. Grrrrrrrrr
Regards, Wil Taylor
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