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RV-10 Door Incidents

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Tim Olson

Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2872

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 12:10 pm Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

Sorry to not post just all good cheer before a holiday, but

a safety message well received should be cheery, right?



A former RV-10 owner saw the write up I did from early this

week and that prompted him to call me today.  He's a

professional pilot, with many many thousand hours of experience,

and is a CFI (and more). He said he hadn't posted anything

previously because it is indeed embarrassing to tell a story

of poor preparation...things like missing something on a

checklist and then having an incident.  But reading the

write up he felt compelled to share his story.  He's not

involved in our online community any more, but asked me

if I'd mind telling it for him.  (And no, to make sure this

isn't mis-attributed, it was not the famous red/white

plane of Vic's)



The basic story is simple.  A passenger was along, and as

they taxied along, they were less "sterile cockpit" than

what you may prefer.  This caused them to overlook the

checklist item of verifying the doors closed and latched.

They got their VFR takeoff clearance, and as they rotated,

the door came up.  His headset was twisted sideways, as

your body's edge is a little in the air stream when this

happen, so he quickly moved to put his headset back on,

and as he looked up at the door, it departed the aircraft.

With 8000' of runway, there was room to do a gentle

landing, and taxi back to grab the door.  The issue is,

he said it was an extremely rattling event...much like

an "explosion" to use his words, when that door opened.

He believed that it was startling enough that some day,

a door opening event would cause a bad accident....not

because the plane flew poorly (he said it flew just

great without the door), but because the pilot will

be too startled and may react inappropriately.

Now, although not much has been written on forums about

RV-10's and doors, it's pretty well known to some that

there have indeed been a handful of RV-10 door incidents

where the door was either torn off or nearly torn off,

due to improper latching.  I'm not sure how many...probably

under 10, but over 5.  This is just a guess, but I'd

have to say that I believe this is about the only mechanical

type issue we've seen that has caused damage to a plane.

So, it's something to absolutely take seriously with your

checklist.  Does the RV-10 need a door redesign?  Well,

it would be a lie to say you couldn't design a better door

system, but, it is what it is. In reality, although

the doors have this potential, if the pilot is diligent

you'll very likely never see an incident, and this pilot

knows that.  He knew he screwed up.  Van's also knew their

design wasn't perhaps as ideal as a Cirrus, for instance,

but it is a simple design that a homebuilder can handle

easily.  Van's has known this for a long time, and they

came out with their door latch warning system just to

combat this problem with inattentive pilots.  It monitors

the door pins and there are lights and a buzzer to let

you know if the pins aren't secured properly.  Given

that addition, there's no reason you should have to

have as much worry.  This pilot did not have that system

installed because he felt he may become too reliant on

the sensing hardware, rather than a good checklist

procedure....and hardware fails too.  Well, as is easy

to guess...pilots probably fail more often than hardware

does, and that's what happened here.  It's something

that could happen to any of us.

I write this all here as a reminder from him to pay

attention to this item very closely in your piloting.

It is the one known issue that you really have to

watch for. But once those doors are latched and the

roll pin is seated tightly in the latch mechanism,

it is also true that there is no reason you should

have a door come off, so you should not be overly

alarmed at the mere potential.



Please, as you flying RV-10 owners take to the skies both

this Holiday season and beyond, check the doors, and

instill it in your families to all participate in the

door pin check.  Install the latch warning system and

use it.  Admittedly, since the system came out after I

was flying I have not yet installed my kit, but this is

quickly helping me to move it higher on the to-do list,

and I need to be extra cautious.  Also, thanks to our

former RV-10 pal who was willing to share his story

and a learning experience with you all.



Happy Thanksgiving!



-- 

Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD - Flying

rtitsworth

Joined: 16 Jan 2006
Posts: 76
Location: Detroit, Mi

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:43 am Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

Tim, etal



I'm a Lancair builder, but lurk here because of all the good experimental

dialog, much of which still applies regardless of the airframe.  For those

RV'ers taking your door message to heart, we Lancair builder/flyers share

the same door importance/fate.  FYI, attached are a few personal photos of a

Lancair Columbia that had a door open in flight near Indianapolis.

 

The slipstream "tore" the left (pilot) door off, after it became unlatched

in-flight.  The door then struck the top of the right wing - yes, up over

the top of the aircraft and down into the wing while in-flight.  The damage

to the wing skin was significant, into the core, much more than cosmetic,

but not catastrophic.  Note: that area is the fuel tank on a Lancair.  The

door then, struck the right Hstab.  I'd guess it would be hard to do that

much damage with a good full sledge hammer blow (significant).  As a result

of that impact, the fuselage was cracked under the tail.  The longitudinal

crack is at the fuselage 1/2 mold joining line (joggle).  The

circumferential crack(s) are through the outer skin, core, and inner skin.

The entire tail was loose/wobbly to the touch.  From seeing it myself, I

can't imaging the tail would have stayed on too much longer or in a stiff

crosswind landing.  The pilot was able to declare an emergency and land, but

was "very" lucky.  Also keep in mind this was a Columbia which is certified

in the utility class and VNE of 235 kts - quite strong - perhaps even more

so than either our RV or ES birds.



Now a door latch annunciator (and checklist) believer, 



Rick Titsworth

Lancair ES, part of the fixed gear fraternity 

1000+ hrs, Mutli, Com, IFR, land & sea



p.s. Tim, I'd love to read your N289DT post, but do not have an RV#.

--

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msausen

Joined: 25 Oct 2007
Posts: 559
Location: Appleton, WI USA

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:43 am Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

Rick,



  Thanks for sharing this, it is indeed valuable information and shows the potential damage our gull wing doors can cause from a sudden departure in flight.  I have/am considering a strap that limits the doors opening to 6 inches or so for a combination of safety, ability to leave the door "cracked" in hot climates while on the ground, and as a strap to grab to shut the door.  I'll probably do some experimenting once I get the doors installed.



  I think it's great that our list is considered not only civil enough, but also informative enough to attract pilots and builders from other aircraft ranks.  Thanks for contributing to our greater knowledge!



Michael Sausen



--

wcurtis(at)nerv10.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:24 am Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

I always suspected this is why Cirrus hinged their doors forward rather than at the top as a classic gull wing.  Hinged at the front an adjar door will tend to be pushed closed by the slipstream, rather than get ripped off by it.



William

http://wcurtis.nerv10.com/ 



------

robin1(at)mrmoisture.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:26 am Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

 	  Quote: 	
		  >I always suspected this is why Cirrus hinged their doors forward

rather than at the top as a classic gull wing.  Hinged at the front an
	


adjar door will tend to be pushed closed by the slipstream, rather than

get ripped off by it."



Yes and no. I have a D-35 Bonanza that had a difficult latching

mechanism (doors hinges forward as we all know). Heck it's a 1952 plane

designed in the 40's. Between the latch mechanism and the goofy door

handle the only door on the plane looked closed but on two (2) occasions

the door unlatched in flight. Both times the door unlatched on takeoff.

Because the door hinges in the front there was no concern of the door

ripping off but there was NO possibility of closing the door in flight

either. The slipstream pulled the door open. I know, I was in the PAX

seat. Great idea to include "Seatbelts Secure" in the checklist! It took

all my strength to hold the door in MOST OF THE WAY while we went around

and landed. If I released the tension the door would open a bit more but

not much more. So I was fighting to hold the door 2-3" closed vs. where

it would have naturally been had I applied very little pressure to the

door handle. Also note holding the door like that is very awkward with

little leverage. After the second time the door popped we completely

removed & serviced the door and replaced the door latching mechanism.

All good after that.

On my Turbo Lance II (AKA Land Lance) our rear baggage door once was not

fully closed. Again a misaligned mechanism. The misalignment was minimal

but about 8 minutes after takeoff we heard a buzzing sound. The sound

was the battery style home CO sensor I had placed in the plane. We could

hear it over the engine/Comm sounds. I was on a short flight (14

minutes) with a couple of friends to attend a BBQ so I nosed down,

throttled back and coasted into PRB. Again we completely removed &

serviced the door and replaced all the door latching mechanism. As most

know the Turbo Lance II is a long plane with the exhaust on the right

side and the baggage door on the rear left side. One might think that

the CO might dissipate in the slipstream but there was enough to set off

my detector. Truly a silent killer. My -10 will include a remote CO

detector that will alarm on the G900X.

Photos of both planes attached.

Robin

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rtitsworth

Joined: 16 Jan 2006
Posts: 76
Location: Detroit, Mi

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:28 am Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

Some ES guys have built such a strap.  One thought/caution is to build it

strong.  My understanding (second hand), is that the Columbia pilot had the

strap in hand at the time of his door incident, and the strap was tore out

of the door (unconfirmed).  The simple math might be something like 0.05 psi

differential (conservative est) times the size of the door (~1,000 sqin) =

50 lbs.  The actual force could be much more (> couple hundred lbs??).

--

Tim Olson

Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2872

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:04 am Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

That's what I was thinking too...unless the strap kept it from opening

more than 1 inch or so, and the strap was extremely tough AND pulled the

door in a forward direction, I don't think there's much you could do

to keep the door on.  The force would just be too great.  The thing

is, if that pin isn't in the proper place on the rear of the door,

it's going to torque and twist backwards and rip the hinges anyway.

I think, but am not positive, we've already seen hinges ripped in half,

so that will give an indication of the force.  The only real worthy

protection I believe will be making sure the pins are both latched

fully.  Once you have that, I think it would take a real breakage

to have a problem.



Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD - Flying

do not archive

rtitsworth wrote:

[quote] 

 

 Some ES guys have built such a strap.  One thought/caution is to build it

 strong.  My understanding (second hand), is that the Columbia pilot had the

 strap in hand at the time of his door incident, and the strap was tore out

 of the door (unconfirmed).  The simple math might be something like 0.05 psi

 differential (conservative est) times the size of the door (~1,000 sqin) =

 50 lbs.  The actual force could be much more (> couple hundred lbs??).

 

 

 --

scottmschmidt(at)yahoo.co
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:11 pm Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

Does anyone know of a door coming off that was sure it was latched on takeoff?  



The system that Vans has developed works great. It is very sensitive and my light on my dash is off only when the latches are locked. My only concern would be fatigue on the doors  where they attach to the hinges on the top. 



Scott Schmidt

scottmschmidt(at)yahoo.com



On Nov 22, 2007, at 12:04 PM, Tim Olson <Tim(at)MyRV10.com> wrote:






That's what I was thinking too...unless the strap kept it from opening

more than 1 inch or so, and the strap was extremely tough AND pulled the

door in a forward direction, I don't think there's much you could do

to keep the door on.  The force would just be too great.  The thing

is, if that pin isn't in the proper place on the rear of the door,

it's going to torque and twist backwards and rip the hinges anyway.

I think, but am not positive, we've already seen hinges ripped in half,

so that will give an indication of the force.  The only real worthy

protection I believe will be making sure the pins are both latched

fully.  Once you have that, I think it would take a real breakage

to have a problem.



Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD - Flying

do not archive

rtitsworth wrote:


Some ES guys have built such a strap.  One thought/caution is to build it

strong.  My understanding (second hand), is that the Columbia pilot had the

strap in hand at the time of his door incident, and the strap was tore out

of the door (unconfirmed).  The simple math might be something like 0.05 psi

differential (conservative est) times the size of the door (~1,000 sqin) =

50 lbs.  The actual force could be much more (> couple hundred lbs??).

--

jesse(at)saintaviation.co
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:33 pm Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

Just make sure the lock pin is fully in place on the inner tube that  

connects to the button on the door latch.  If it is not, and your knee  

or something hits the handle a little, it can come open.  Once it  

starts, the pressure on the door makes it want to continue going open  

until it releases.  Fortunately, when that happened to me I was able  

to grab the door and close it (it wasn't too hard to close, but  

without a handle on the back of the door as in the attached picture it  

would have been impossible) before any damage was done to it.  I would  

say the first thing to do if that happens would be to get off the  

power (unless you are on takeoff, maybe) and slow down.  I know of two  

cases where the door came open and didn't come off, one of which was  

on takeoff and one of the hinges broke.  Even with the hinge broken,  

the pins held the door closed during flight.

do not archive

Jesse Saint

Saint Aviation, Inc.

jesse(at)saintaviation.com

Cell: 352-427-0285

Fax: 815-377-3694

On Nov 22, 2007, at 4:10 PM, Scott Schmidt wrote:

[quote] 

 >

 Does anyone know of a door coming off that was sure it was latched  

 on takeoff?

 The system that Vans has developed works great. It is very sensitive  

 and my light on my dash is off only when the latches are locked. My  

 only concern would be fatigue on the doors  where they attach to the  

 hinges on the top.

 Scott Schmidt

 scottmschmidt(at)yahoo.com

 On Nov 22, 2007, at 12:04 PM, Tim Olson <Tim(at)MyRV10.com> wrote:

 That's what I was thinking too...unless the strap kept it from opening

 more than 1 inch or so, and the strap was extremely tough AND pulled  

 the

 door in a forward direction, I don't think there's much you could do

 to keep the door on.  The force would just be too great.  The thing

 is, if that pin isn't in the proper place on the rear of the door,

 it's going to torque and twist backwards and rip the hinges anyway.

 I think, but am not positive, we've already seen hinges ripped in  

 half,

 so that will give an indication of the force.  The only real worthy

 protection I believe will be making sure the pins are both latched

 fully.  Once you have that, I think it would take a real breakage

 to have a problem.

 Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD - Flying

 do not archive

 rtitsworth wrote:

 >

 Some ES guys have built such a strap.  One thought/caution is to  

 build it

 strong.  My understanding (second hand), is that the Columbia pilot  

 had the

 strap in hand at the time of his door incident, and the strap was  

 tore out

 of the door (unconfirmed).  The simple math might be something like  

 0.05 psi

 differential (conservative est) times the size of the door (~1,000  

 sqin) =

 50 lbs.  The actual force could be much more (> couple hundred lbs??).

 --

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kearney(at)shaw.ca
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:30 pm Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

Hmmm



This discussion of inadvertent door openings in flight is quite interesting.

In my PA28, I have had the door pop open a couple or four times (usually

because I didn't latch it properly and once because an examiner leaned on

the handle when I was doing an instrument ride. 



IN a PA28, this is a pretty benign event, the door only opens a few inches

and then stays put. It is closable in flight - a technique I have mastered.



It is the forward hinges on a PA28 that make this a non event.    



I was wondering if a latch on the forward edge of the door, engaged when the

door is locked would give the same sort of protection to the -10 gull wing

doors. I must admit the thought of shedding a door at 10k because a

passenger accidentally operated the door mechanism is not a pleasant one. It

would seem that the key to keeping the door in place would be to prevent the

forward edge entering the slipstream and being strippedd away from the

fuselage.



Alternatively, is there a simple way to prevent the door mechanism from

being accidentally operated while in flight?



Inquiring minds need to know.



Les Kearney

#40643 - still singing the section 29 blues 



--

Tim Olson

Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2872

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:13 pm Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

IF....IF you ensure that the roll pin in the mechanism fits into

the slot, then there is no issue at all.  The lock mechanism

is very secure on the standard kit.  It's kind of like the

Air Force Symbol....a circle with a bar through it.  When the

roll pin of the thing is rotated so it drops into that

slot, it is actually tough to get it to release.  On my doors,

I have to tell the passenger that they may have to push down

slightly on the door lever while pushing the thumb button or

the rotational pressure will not let it release.  It would be

almost impossible to release it in flight without doing

something pretty abnormal.  So, it really isn't something to

get all worked up a bit.  Unless someone wants to redesign

their doors with forward hinges, just resign yourself to the

fact that you'll definitely want to make sure they're latched

and use the warning mechanism.



Also, as a sideline comment, I'm not sure but I believe one of

the flush latch mechanisms was lacking the ability to have a

detent for it to lock into like that, which is the reason

some have stated for NOT using at least that particular

3rd party latch set.  It may be that things can be improved

somehow, but if you're going that route it's just something

that you may want to watch for.



Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD - Flying

do not archive

Les Kearney wrote:

[quote] 

 

 Hmmm

 

 This discussion of inadvertent door openings in flight is quite interesting.

 In my PA28, I have had the door pop open a couple or four times (usually

 because I didn't latch it properly and once because an examiner leaned on

 the handle when I was doing an instrument ride. 

 

 IN a PA28, this is a pretty benign event, the door only opens a few inches

 and then stays put. It is closable in flight - a technique I have mastered.

 

 It is the forward hinges on a PA28 that make this a non event.    

 

 I was wondering if a latch on the forward edge of the door, engaged when the

 door is locked would give the same sort of protection to the -10 gull wing

 doors. I must admit the thought of shedding a door at 10k because a

 passenger accidentally operated the door mechanism is not a pleasant one. It

 would seem that the key to keeping the door in place would be to prevent the

 forward edge entering the slipstream and being strippedd away from the

 fuselage.

 

 Alternatively, is there a simple way to prevent the door mechanism from

 being accidentally operated while in flight?

 

 Inquiring minds need to know.

 

 Les Kearney

 #40643 - still singing the section 29 blues 

 

 --

bcondrey

Joined: 03 Apr 2006
Posts: 580

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 5:10 am Post subject: Re: RV-10 Door Incidents

Just for the record the flush exterior handles from Steve DiNieri (http://iflyrv10.com/) don't change the stock latching/locking mechanism.  I have also heard of one that completely disables the lock part but this isn't it.



No affiliation, just clarifying.



Bob #40105

Tim Olson

Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2872

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 7:47 am Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

The following was written by Russ Daves, who is diligently monitoring

the list from his daughter's house, but can't reply using that PC.

He asked if I could forward this to you all.  The reply is in multiple

sections, so read them all...the're all great.  The latches he was

referring to were the ones I thought I had heard were not locking

in positioning...not the ones Bob mentioned.



Tim



<in response to>

---------------------------

Also, as a sideline comment, I'm not sure but I believe one of

       the flush latch mechanisms was lacking the ability to have a

       detent for it to lock into like that, which is the reason

       some have stated for NOT using at least that particular

       3rd party latch set.  It may be that things can be improved

       somehow, but if you're going that route it's just something

       that you may want to watch for.



       Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD - Flying

       do not archive



---------------------------

<Russ Daves writes...>



The Cross Aviation recessed door handles on N710RV DO NOT have a locking 

indent.  I installed a strap below the front part of the inside handle 

an it slides over the inside handle when closed.  I made the strap out 

of heavy duty elastic material so that with a significant amount of 

pressure the door could be opened from the outside in the event of a 

crash/emergency landing.  Not as good a design as the Van's indent and 

if I had it to do over again I would not use the Cross Aviation recessed 

handles.



Russ Daves N710RV



<in response to>

------------------------------------

I have/am considering a strap that limits the doors opening to 6 inches or

       so for a combination of safety, ability to leave the door 

"cracked" in hot climates

       while on the ground, and as a strap to grab to shut the door. 

I'll probably

       do some experimenting once I get the doors installed.

       >

       >   I think it's great that our list is considered not only civil 

enough, but also

       informative enough to attract pilots and builders from other 

aircraft ranks.

       Thanks for contributing to our greater knowledge!

       >

       > Michael Sausen

--------------------------------------

<Russ Daves writes.........>

I have a 12 inch strap installed at the bottom front of my doors that I 

can reach up and grab while seated to pull the door closed.  It is long 

enough to slide the loop strap over my left thumb and I can keep the 

door closed within about 3 inches while holding the stick and taxing. 

In addition, after I land and my speed is down to about 40 mph I can 

slide the strap over my left thumb and open the door and let in a 

significant amount of fresh air while taxing to the hanger.  See 

comments below related to the door opening in flight about the 

practaclity of the strap to hold the door closed during flight.



Russ Daves N-710RV

< In response to....>



----------------------------------------------

unless the strap kept it from opening

       more than 1 inch or so, and the strap was extremely tough AND 

pulled the

       door in a forward direction, I don't think there's much you could do

       to keep the door on.  The force would just be too great.  The thing

       is, if that pin isn't in the proper place on the rear of the door,

       it's going to torque and twist backwards and rip the hinges anyway.

       I think, but am not positive, we've already seen hinges ripped in 

half,

       so that will give an indication of the force.  The only real worthy

       protection I believe will be making sure the pins are both latched

       fully.  Once you have that, I think it would take a real breakage

       to have a problem.



       Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD - Flying

----------------------------------------------



<Russ Daves writes>



I have absolutely no doubt that the strap would tear off the door if it 

was attached inside the airplane and the door came open in flight.  Not 

that the strap is a bad idea, only that it should not be attached inside 

the airplane.  Read below for more reasons.

Last fall I posted to both the Matronics and the VAFWWW web sites my 

first hand experience with a door opening in flight.  When it happened 

in August 2006 right after my 40 hour flyoff had been completed I was 

initially ashamed of my stupidity and waited a few months to make the 

post to get over it and let other builders know of the pitfall of not 

having a physical check of all four locking pins as part of the takeoff 

checklist.



It was my first flight with a passenger (my wife) after the flyoff hours 

and on takeoff, maybe 500 feet in the air, at about 100 knots the 

pilot's door opened, all the way.  Naturally I first flew the airplane. 

  You cannot believe how loud it was in the airplane.  I reduced power 

as much as possible, did a flat right turn slip of the airplane and 

reached up with my left hand and grabbed the 12 inch loop strap, as the 

flat slip turn reduced the pressure on the door, and pulled the door 

back down to within 6 inches of closing.  I continued the flat slop turn 

back to downwind while announcing to the tower I was declaring an 

emergency and returning to 17R for a landing.  I could not make out the 

tower's response because of the noise but continued to make the approach 

downwind.  on short final I could see an airplane still on the runway 

from rolling out and did a 360 turn back around to final while again 

telling the tower I could not hear them but was declaring an emergency 

landing on 17R.



After landing I discovered that the rear door hinge had torn completely 

loose from the fiberglass, the strut was broken, and the front hinge was 

still attached but bent and had to be replaced.



I ordered a new front hinge set and a new strut.  Epoxy Floxxed the rear 

fiberglass where the hinge had torn completely off the cabin top and 

repaired the door fiberglass where the hinge had partially tore out of 

the door.  In 3 days when the new hinge and strut arrived I installed 

and was back in the air.



However I added to my takeoff checklist to physically check, by feel, 

that all four door hinges were properly seated in the slots.  Like Tim 

my -10 had been completed before Van's shipped me the new door magnetic 

pin system with a light on the panel so I did not have it installed at 

the time of the incident.  I have chosen to NOT install the light check 

system since it would not change my takeoff checklist of physically 

feeling that the pins are seated.



I now exactly what happened to cause the door to open.  The back pin 

slide outside the door frame instead of into the slot and on take off 

the door torqued enough to allow the front pin to slide out.  In my 

opinion it will happen every time if both pins are not seated.



When the door was fully open, as I was continuing to fly the airplane, I 

could just barely see the door strap out of the corner of my left eye, 

otherwise I would probably have assumed the door had left the airplane.



What I found strange was that in over 30 flights during the flyoff hours 

the door pins seated ever time, even though I had not been physically 

checking the pins.  I think the fact that it was the first passenger 

flight and I was so concerned with the passenger door and getting my 

wife comfortable for the first flight that I just blew it when I closed 

the door.  However it was a lesson which a couple of months after the 

incident that I no longer regretted that it happened.  Hopefully it has 

made me and lots of other RV-10 builders more aware of a real danger 

that has to be checked and is just as important as any of the other 

items on the takeoff checklist.



Russ Daves N-710RV

bcondrey wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   

 

 Just for the record the flush exterior handles from Steve DiNieri (http://iflyrv10.com/) don't change the stock latching/locking mechanism.  I have also heard of one that completely disables the lock part but this isn't it.

 

 No affiliation, just clarifying.

 

 Bob #40105

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=148045#148045

CJohnston(at)popsound.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:22 am Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

As a person who loves to redesign things and spend too much time and too much money doing so, I have to say that I actually like the door latch mechanism.  I originally had thought that i'd definitely replace it, or do something else cooler.  when I got there, I built it per the plans, and I got kind of a kick out of how functional they really were.  as tim said  there's a positive latch that requires you to mean to open it, or it doesn't open.  I didn't really understand how the door latch was supposed to work when I was putting it together, but as I got further into building them, and the confusion waned, I was a little impressed with the engineering of it.  After it was complete, I made a few adjustments to make the latch action smoother, but that was it.  the interior door handle is a bit ugly for sure, but I decided that I don't care for now.  Something that I get a kick out of is when simple stuff just works.  I will say that by far the best improvement that you could do on the door latch system is use the Rivethead door guides.  I know, I know, lead time, slow shipping, whatever.  All of this door departing in flight conversation has me really happy that I made that one change.  The door opens and closes smoothly, and you really can't get it to a place where you think it's latched and it isn't.  Of course now having said that, somehow my door will depart in flight anyway!  



relevant links:

http://www.perfectlygoodairplane.net/Perfectlygoodairplane/Door_Handles.html

http://www.perfectlygoodairplane.net/Perfectlygoodairplane/Rivethead_Door_Guides.html

http://www.perfectlygoodairplane.net/Perfectlygoodairplane/Rivethead_Door_Handles.html

cj

#40410

www.perfectlygoodairplane.net

--

robin1(at)mrmoisture.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 10:31 am Post subject: RV-10 Door Incidents

Out of all the participants on the list you are probably the most

qualified to deal with a door coming off in flight. What's another jump

for you? Ohhhh sorry about that passengers! 

I wonder if there is a way to design a thumb turn that engages the door

lock from the inside for the flush mount handles?



Robin

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