i guess we have a difference of opinion.
sure you "can" leave a crack in the skin and monitor it, but (if this is a transport (FAR25) aircraft) that requires a lot of engineering justification (see other threads about flying with known cracks).
sure a badly stop drilled crack is worse than nothing, most of the time they're too small and often do't take out the crack tip. the stop drill has to take out the yield zone to be effective. with this size of crack (assuming it's on a rivet line and not an isolated rivet) i'd suggest cutting out the adjacent rivets (a hole diameter = 2 rivet pitches) and a two row dblr over that. and now there'll need to be continuing inspections of this dblr. you'll need a RDC/RDA for this, including DTA ... i'm assuming this is a part 23 or 25 aircraft. what's the rivet doing there ? joining two pieces of skin together ? frame flange ??
yes, mechanically attached dblrs are inefficient, but they're the best thing we have for Al skins. yes, you can design a bonded repair, but that is a certification, engineering, and manufacturing nightmare (unless you're experienced with them).
there is very little retardation effect in a pressure cabin.
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