dan.masys(at)Vanderbilt.E Guest
|
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:35 am Post subject: Door-I'm the guy |
|
|
Quote: | Subject: Re: Door-I'm the guy.
From: "johngoodman" <johngoodman(at)earthlink.net>
It's a sad day when a pilot cannot allow a passenger to close his own
door. I guess
|
Quote: | cracking the door open during long taxis on hot days is out.
|
Quote: | The door design is flawed and needs to be changed.
John
|
I always close the passenger's door on my RV-10, either from the inside
or outside, but realized that it is just part of the flight safety
routines developed over 39 years of flying in a variety of GA airplanes.
The first airplanes I ever owned were a Cessna 172 and then a 182, and I
didn't let passengers close those doors either (usually because they
would slam them too hard, and then I wouldn't be sure the locking
mechanism had gone over center unless I felt it myself). I don't know
any Beech or Cirrus drivers who let their passengers close the doors
without assistance either. Passengers, especially new ones, seem to
actually like the care and attention the pilot pays to the door they are
sitting next to.
With respect to the -10 doors, two observations:
1. I added a Stanley screen door pull at the lower rear corner of each
door (from the aviation aisle at Home Depot) and it works great to pull
the rear part of the door in during latching. Have the standard magnetic
proximity switches from Vans and two indicator lights on the panel, with
the pins set so that if they are as little as 3/16 inch from full closed
position the red lights come on.
2. The door seals do tend to deform the doors, so I always store the
plane (even though it is hangared) with the doors latched. Over the
course of the last couple of years flying the -10 I have noticed that
temperature affects the stiffness and bend of the doors, so regardless
of the type of seals there is no 'final' fitting that you do and then
are done worrying about the doors. If you've closed them once, you've
closed them once and they may not feel exactly the same the next time.
Just my $0.02. YMMV.
-Dan Masys
RV-10 N104LD 260 hrs.
RV-12 N124LD Empennage and tailcone done
| - The Matronics RV10-List Email Forum - | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV10-List |
|
|
|