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Door Pins Not Seating

The pilot side door in my 10 has always locked very easily. Now with the colder weather, I find that its really difficult to close the door from the inside as the rear pin will not seat in the hole (I had to get someone to push the rear of the door from the outside to get the pin into the hole.

Any ideas on how to deal with this?
 
Was the door left closed and sealed before you tried to close it? The seals get harder with cold weather. When you leave the aircraft , try to seal the doors and leave then closed when not in use. When you return and open them the seal will hold that shape for a short time and make closing much easier.
 
Are your door mechanisms set up per plans with 90* actuation or did you use uncut gear racks for 180* rotation? Someone here named Sean came up with and markets a kit for this. I rolled my own but the first 90* draws the door tight and the last 90* engages the pins. I beveled the first 1/2" of my pins to help engage the pins in the blocks. They worked very good in cold weather.
 
Best solution is the after-market kit mentioned above. Installing a leather or nylon pull handle aft of the door handle helps to pull in both the fore and aft ends of the door. But then you need two hands.
 
The strut tends to push the aft edge of the door outboard. Maybe (?) the seals are stiff enough due to the cooler weather that the combination of the strut and the seals pushes the aft door edge outboard far enough to prevent the pin from engaging.

Are there witness marks on the aft cabin pin block on that side? Maybe that will tell you something. If there aren't witness marks, put a piece of masking tape on the pin block, "paint" the pin with something, and attempt to close the door and engage the pins. Now you'll have a witness mark and may be able to better identify the problem.

The solution might be a softer strut, a pin with a better chamfer, or maybe slightly enlarging the funnel part of the pin block.
 
Best solution is the after-market kit mentioned above. Installing a leather or nylon pull handle aft of the door handle helps to pull in both the fore and aft ends of the door. But then you need two hands.

Bob, where do i find the info on the after market kit?

I did not build the plane so I am unfamiliar with what the original builder did.
 
https://planearound.com/
rs=w:400,cg:true
 
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