What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

RV-10 DOOR Separation need to know!

WOW

Amazing amount of damage------:eek:

Luckily the plane landed safely, if a bit hard.

I could not find any information relating to why the door opened, does anyone have this???? Not properly latched at take off?

Did the plane have the magnetic switch indicator lights installed?? If so, were they checked and found to be showing latched prior to flight???
 
Welcome!!!

By the way-----just noticed this is your first time here at VAF, at least as a posting member.

Welcome to the site, may the force be with you:D

Is this your plane?? Do you have any other info, such as how many hours etc??,
any prior issues with the door??

Thanks,
 
Great pics - thanks for posting them and welcome to VAF.

Could you elaborate on what cause the cowl damage, the crack ahead of the windshield, the wrinkled fuselage skins, twisted tail, pilot door "dings", etc..? Any pics of the gear attach points/gear towers or down the spars?

Just curious about all the extraneous damage in addtion to the obvious door failure. Having seen/worked on the first RV-10 to lose a door I'm naturally curious.

Cheers,
Stein
 
Stein, seems that the door hit the tail as it departed in flight. This would cause the damage shown.

Hard landing -----4+g I think it was-----could cause the de-lamination in front of the WS.

As you often say, my $.02:)
 
Last edited:
Wow!!
Were the door latches like that before that flight? Those blocks look really beat up, even on the pilot's side. The pins are supposed to have enough travel to make it into the fiberglass as I recall, not just held by the teflon? block.

The doors are suprisingly heavy. I'm guessing it hitting the tail caused the fuse to buckle.

I'm curious what caused the big dent directly under the VS, just to the left of the crack in the skin.

Thanks for sharing and congrats for getting it (and more importantly yourself), back on the ground.
 
Glad you are okay Will.

Any idea what caused the door to seperate? The NTSB report says the door started to flutter and you grabbed the handle. Did the pin break in flight? Was the door closed properly? If it wasn't closed you would get a red light, but they are easily missed in bright sunlight. I have been told the door will come off on takeoff if it is not properly latched.
 
Last edited:
Grateful you're OK (and welcome)

Thanks for sharing these pictures with us, Will (and welcome). Very, very glad you're on the ground OK.

Grace under pressure and all that. Good stick.

b,
d
 
Glad you are ok but sad that the airplane is such a mess.

Me thinks I'll be looking at supplemental latches for mine. I'm still wishing Van's had done a slider like a Navion or Tiger uses.
 
AMEN to that. You remember the NAVION, too.

The door design shouldn't be even close to rocket science for Van to nail down.
 
Great to see all the interest, and comments---
As you noted mike, this is my 1st posting, obviously, serious business here.

Answers to your questions:

It is my plane, had approx 300hrs AF/IO540Eng,

Inclosing doors would often seem necessary to reach back and pull the aft point while simultaneously turning lock handle.

Never found the door so can't say as to the configuration of the locking pins when door separated. However, judging from the pilots side they were either misrigged or became so with use--the locking handle always seemed deficient, not robust enough.

Door close green light inddcator was on--logic indicates that the mag sensor tolerance(travel distance between on/off) might give a "green" if the pin is only partially in position, e.g. just behind the teflon block?

Crack in front of windscreen "appears" from inspection to be the result of the hard landing, note the alternator pully dug into the cowl, that is approx 1.5" travel.

The gear springs are fine but all strut fairings separated on impact.

All damage noted caused by the door separation. Also, note the attachment point of the hinges on the door pulling out rather clean, with out retaining a hunk of the door frame. This result to me is an indication the surface area of the hinge is not large enough to with stand higher stress, but just pulling out of the door also indicates weakness in the door frame around the attachment point.
 
.....

.....All damage noted caused by the door separation. Also, note the attachment point of the hinges on the door pulling out rather clean, with out retaining a hunk of the door frame. This result to me is an indication the surface area of the hinge is not large enough to with stand higher stress, but just pulling out of the door also indicates weakness in the door frame around the attachment point.

Good job flying the airplane, Will. For sure it was less than stable.

While the door appears weak at the attach area, same can not be said for the HS. It took quite a ding and continued to function. I'd be surprised if Van's is not back to the drawing board to come up with a door that can not cause an accident.
 
I'd be surprised if Van's is not back to the drawing board to come up with a door that can not cause an accident.

I am not sure it is possible to design a door that can not cause an accident (I am not meaning to imply that the RV-10 door couldn't be made more safe either).
I know of accidents (some fatal) that have been cause by pilots trying to close conventionally opening doors on airplanes.

I also noticed how distorted the UHMW guide blocks looked...like the pins have been being retained by them instead of the metal and composite door frame.

The comment about the green light is also interesting. The kit supplied warning system has no green lights. Just red lights to warn that the door is unsafe. Is it possible that a red light was mistaken for a green light?
 
Great to see all the interest, and comments---
As you noted mike, this is my 1st posting, obviously, serious business here.

Will, as we all said before, glad you are safe. That is the most important thing. Planes can be repaired much easier that pilots.

Lots of people paying attention to this, your willingness to share will benefit a lot of folks.

Answers to your questions:

It is my plane, had approx 300hrs AF/IO540Eng,

Inclosing doors would often seem necessary to reach back and pull the aft point while simultaneously turning lock handle.

Yep, seen that before.

Never found the door so can't say as to the configuration of the locking pins when door separated. However, judging from the pilots side they were either misrigged or became so with use--the locking handle always seemed deficient, not robust enough.

Door close green light indicator was on--logic indicates that the mag sensor tolerance(travel distance between on/off) might give a "green" if the pin is only partially in position, e.g. just behind the Teflon block?

I am just in the process of installing the door lock lights now----one side finished other still being worked on. You are correct that the sensor can give a false indication-------the design of the latch geometry is such that the last little bit of handle motion needed to get into the locked detent produces almost no motion in the latch pin.

Crack in front of windscreen "appears" from inspection to be the result of the hard landing, note the alternator pully dug into the cowl, that is approx 1.5" travel.

The gear springs are fine but all strut fairings separated on impact.

All damage noted caused by the door separation. Also, note the attachment point of the hinges on the door pulling out rather clean, with out retaining a hunk of the door frame. This result to me is an indication the surface area of the hinge is not large enough to with stand higher stress, but just pulling out of the door also indicates weakness in the door frame around the attachment point.

Will, have you looked at the safety latch, in the thread I linked to a few posts back??? Might be something you want to incorporate into your repair efforts.

Once again, thanks for sharing, and thank God you are here to tell us about it.
 
It wouldn't surprise me to see someone come out with a front hinged door modification. Sure, a front hinged door would still pop open (slightly) if not latched, but would only open a few inches and probably wouldn't depart the aircraft.

Is there some advantage offered by the top hinged door that I'm missing?
 
Hi Will,

Were you flying at the time?

Curiosy about the UHMW blocks and the associate rigging. Something doesn't quite feel right here...yes there has been more than on door departure on the RV-10 so of course it's known. What is surprising is that a properly latched and properly rigged door would come open. The past problems with doors have been when the rear pin wasn't latched (hence the red warning light kit issued by Van's). Also curious about the Green Light.

I know Jesse has changed a lot of things, but if the desing of the latches has been changed (not saying it has), perhaps that should be re-visited a bit. Same with the green light...wondering what that's all about...

Anyway, not pointing any fingers. Just trying to get more information and appreciate your willingness to share it.

Thanks,
Stein
 
It wouldn't surprise me to see someone come out with a front hinged door modification. Sure, a front hinged door would still pop open (slightly) if not latched, but would only open a few inches and probably wouldn't depart the aircraft.

Is there some advantage offered by the top hinged door that I'm missing?

Might keep some rain off you when entering the aircraft and are nice when taxiing in hot weather. The RV10 is not alone with door problems. I had a test flight in a brand new Cirrus last year and the demo pilot had to try about 8 times to close the door correctly. Also last year, a friend test flying a Glassair came whizzing by me with the door fully open for an emergency landing while I held short. Quite a sight but a very strong door design as it stayed on the plane with minor damage. This one happened in cruise and he had to land very hot as the aircraft was very scary at low speeds. Scared the stuffing out of him initially but he has survived a lot worse in his test flying and water bombing career.
 
Inclosing doors would often seem necessary to reach back and pull the aft point while simultaneously turning lock handle.

Can you elaborate more? What is the "aft point"? Did the handle always click in place? Do you think the pin just broke? It either broke, bent, or it was not in the hole for take off.
 
RV10 door opening

Hi Will

Thank heavens you are safe - I hope it does not take a death to recognise and fix this failing in the RV10.

I too have had a door open (on take off). I was luckier than you as my door remained attached!! You can see my posts at

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=26526

Even when I was building the plane I realised that the RV10 doors were potential trouble - silly me, I should have followed my instincts and modified them at the outset.

I believe that the doors bend outwards far more along the lower horizontal edge than we realise (as a result of aerodynamic forces). I say this because when I am on the ground the safety latch can be easily lifted up over the Z striker plate on the fuselage but in flight, IT IS UNDER SUCH PRESSURE THAT I CANNOT BUDGE IT!!! The large outward aerodynamic forces bend the door and they are then taken up by the safety latch.

Note too that the door pins have a chamfer on the forward surface to aide door closing. If the doors were to flex outwards sufficiently, and if there was sufficient movement forward of the lower edge of the door (the fit of the actual door in the fuselage door space) it would be possible for the rear pin to ride up the chamfer, pushing the lower edge of the door forward; the rear pin pops out of the fiberglass housing, the teflon gives way and the rear pin is no longer secure. In only a second or two, the door flies open.....with the terrible results that we both have experienced!

Without being dramatic, IMHO, all RV10's should be fitted with safety latches ASAP!! As I am sure you will now appreciate, I will not fly in a 10 without latches. My passenger (at the time) will NEVER fly in a light aircraft again!!

Hope your repairs go well

Best wishes

Andre
 
Andre, where did you get the componets for your latches? Are you going to make kits? I'll take two!
 
Another RV10 door separation today

Another RV-10 landed safely today (4-5-08) minus the pilot side door. Damage was minimal in comparison to pictures on this thread. Pilot thought door was latched. Door came open during climb out. Pilot was holding door closed briefly but let go to "fly the airplane". Door started wobbleing and was gone.

I don't know if warning lights were installed.

Slight scratch on horizontal going by, certainly lucky all things considered.

For me, when the door comes open that usually means JUMP.

Rob Herndon 223RH RV6
 
RV10 doors

Andre, where did you get the componets for your latches? Are you going to make kits? I'll take two!

Hi Larry

I made the latches up myself - I spent several weeks playing with designs and ideas; I wanted a system like the safety latch of a cars bonnet - pop a cars bonnet at 100 km per hour and it will not fly open - a simple secondary latch prevents this.

Unfortunately, I just do not have the time nor the resources to make multiple kits up myself; that is why I have posted the pictures on this site so that hopefully someone (it should be Vans) will run with the idea.... Surely someone, somewhere could mass produce something along these lines??

Note the the post after yours Larry - yet another RV10 has lost a door... I really love my RV10 more than anything that I have built before ( I would not swap it for any other 4 seater) but I am so much happier now that I know the doors CANNOT fly open....

There is a proverb that says something like "a donkey will trip over a stone but once, then walk around it; Man will trip over it seven times before learning the lesson..."

Lets hope that seven more doors will not be lost before the lesson is learned!

Cheers

Andre
 
There are many cases of RV-10 doors coming off in climb out due to them not being properly latched. When closing the door and compressing the door seal if not done correctly the rear pin will be on the out side of the plane and not in the hole.

This is the first time I have heard of a door speration after climb out let alone 4,500'.

Part of the take off proceedure in my RV-10 is to phyically touch the end of the both rear pins before take off, and I also push on the each door to see if it gives. Then I look at the lights. Since the magnet in near the reed switch (even when the door is not close properly) it may give you a "GO" reading when it is not in the hole. I phyically check the pins before each takeoff.
 
Last edited:
Look at the pictures again. If you look closely at the rear pin hole of the Co-Pilot side I think I have found the problem. The pin did not extend though the sturctural part of the canopy. It only protruded into the "plastic". I can see no wear inside the hole! When it gave way the door came off.

Mine measure a minimum of 1.4" fully extended.
 
Last edited:
I agree. The beveled portion of the pin does not count for engagement, just alignment.

I would also help the plastic block by mounting it inside an aluminum c-channel or pot urethane in a c-channel.
 
Also curious about the Green Light.

I know Jesse has changed a lot of things, but if the design of the latches has been changed (not saying it has), perhaps that should be re-visited a bit. Same with the green light...wondering what that's all about...

Thanks,
Stein

Stein, I also put in green LEDs instead of the red ones-------and deleted the relays----

I have a "Push to test" button, two green "Door latched" lights, and a very simple wiring set up for this. Straight series wiring, hot lead to switch, through LEDs to reed switches (series), to ground.

Vans uses a setup where the circuit is always hot, the door switched energize a relay to open the NC contacts turning off the red light.

I just didnt like using a constant electrical flow, to turn a light off. Just aint right:confused:

In my setup, the door checking takes an active action by me, and is going to be part of my pre start check list.
 
Stein, I also put in green LEDs instead of the red ones-------and deleted the relays----

I have a "Push to test" button, two green "Door latched" lights, and a very simple wiring set up for this. Straight series wiring, hot lead to switch, through LEDs to reed switches (series), to ground.

Vans uses a setup where the circuit is always hot, the door switched energize a relay to open the NC contacts turning off the red light.

I just didnt like using a constant electrical flow, to turn a light off. Just aint right:confused:

In my setup, the door checking takes an active action by me, and is going to be part of my pre start check list.

The reasoning behind Van's system design was to try and help prevent a accidental safe condition indicated because of a shorted out wire, etc.
If switches are just being used to switch a ground for the lights, you can more easily be fooled if a failure occurs in the wiring at an inopportune time. With the system installed as designed, most any failure in the system (short of it loosing its power source) will cause a light to turn on. The light may be an erroneous indication of whether the door is latch, but at least it will make the pilot investigate.
 
Scott-----Yep, dark cockpit setup. Light comming on to indicate problem makes a lot of sense.

I just didnt like the methodology----constant hot/relay to turn OFF light---- used for achieving it, so I did it different.

If I had mag reed switches that were NC (normally closed), I would wire things up different, and use red indicators.

One of my neighbors, who is an electrical engineer type, drew up a simple circuit using a MOSFET, and the standard NO switches, to control red lights-------I am going to try building it when I get a chance, and may end up changing out the system I am currently putting in.

I will give a report here when I know how it works.
 
Last edited:
RV-10 Door Comments

I'm thankful no one has been hurt.

Just to comment on the nylon blocks, my blocks are warped as well but they are only meant to be guides. The real lock comes from the rods going through both the fiberglass and the aluminum so that the whole rod, not just the beveled part, is through the aluminum.

You also must have the door lock alarms. They work great. I have mine setup so if my lever is 1/2" up from locked my alarm is on. It has to click in and lock for the lights to go off. I can honestly say that as long as my take-off checklist includes four checks at all corners I don't feel I will have a problem but I do feel they should be improved in some way.

I will agree with a previous post that the pressure on the doors is quite significant. Like I mentioned, my sensors are very sensitive to the position of the locks and when I take my plane up to high speeds 180 - 190 TAS my light has come on a couple of times because of the pull on the door causing my rod to pull back from the sensor just slightly. If your locking rods are not long enough this can cause some major problems.

From the looks of the pictures it appears the rear rod was not extended far enough into the fiberglass and aluminum and broke through the block after some fatigue but it is hard to say. There are alot of hours on alot of RV-10's and three doors have been lost. One for sure wasn't latched.

I have been unhappy with the setup for some time and recently ordered the system from Rivethead Aero. I don't have it yet but like the look of the aluminum. I also like the center lock, it will allow passengers to first close the door and then lock it. I find people want to close the latch before the door is completely closed.

I guess my comments are, no I don't think the current system is perfect but I don't ever anticipate having any issues unless the aluminum fails in shear due to fatigue. I like the redundancy of the center lock but I think the real solution should be in the design of a new lock not the addition of new locks. In an emergency I would still like to lift one lever to get out. Maybe a lock that has pins in both the sides and bottoms would be a good solution.

I'm sure there will be many more great ideas coming down the line. I do feel everyone should stop and make sure their rods are coming through both the fiberglass and aluminum and not relying on the nylon block. And second, make sure your door alarms are installed correctly and have the proper sensitivity. They are very easy to install and adjust.
 
Question? Mike Starkey, and others

I suspected a lot of interest about the doors being accident prone, but didn't think there was that many accident related incidents!

You seem to be on top of this matter Re configuration, safety. Is any one to your knowledge leading a concerted effort for a remedy(ies), other than reporting in to Van's!!! I spoke with Ken Krueger on my door and he was in one word, "nonchalant". I understand their need to be reserved on comments but this is a situation where there will be a fatality I'm afraid.

Will Peacock
 
I suspected a lot of interest about the doors being accident prone, but didn't think there was that many accident related incidents!

You seem to be on top of this matter Re configuration, safety. Is any one to your knowledge leading a concerted effort for a remedy(ies), other than reporting in to Van's!!! I spoke with Ken Krueger on my door and he was in one word, "nonchalant". I understand their need to be reserved on comments but this is a situation where there will be a fatality I'm afraid.

Will Peacock

As far as I am aware no one is in the process of redesigning the door locks. I sure would like to use these three incidents as warnings and do some redesign now instead of being grounded in the future for extended period of time not have some friends around because of it.

If I were Van's I would say that as long as they are installed correctly, the safety lights installed correctly, and all pre-takeoff check lists completed they will be safe. I do believe they are safe but they could be designed better and less sensitive to manufacturing error and have a more definite locking mechanism. What I don't like about the system is that you cannot see it locking like you can on a RV-6/7 when you close the canopy.

It would be fun to have something like a design contest on this issue and see what people come up with.
 
Last edited:
I suspected a lot of interest about the doors being accident prone, but didn't think there was that many accident related incidents!

You seem to be on top of this matter Re configuration, safety. Is any one to your knowledge leading a concerted effort for a remedy(ies), other than reporting in to Van's!!! I spoke with Ken Krueger on my door and he was in one word, "nonchalant". I understand their need to be reserved on comments but this is a situation where there will be a fatality I'm afraid.

Will Peacock

As Scott said, I also am not aware of any organized effort to create a remedy for this.

I have a pair of 10 in my hanger, one flying, and one not yet. In comparing the doors, we found apx 15 degrees of handle movement from plane to plane, with the attendant lack of latch rod--tube---travel. Also, one of the gear racks was a tooth off-----

I totally agree that the issue revolves around getting the rod fully into the frame, and the detent roll pin into its locked position.

Due to nature of magnetism, and the associated reed switch, it is possible to get a false "safe" indication anytime the magnet is close enough to the switch, even if that happens when the lock rod is outside the airplane:eek:

Lastly, I know of 5 door failures so far.

Vans, the two on this thread, and a guy in southern Calif has had two doors attempt solo flight.

The main benefit I see to the center aux latch, is that when it is engaged, the rear rod pretty much must be in position to hit the hole when the handle is turned. I am also concerned however about cutting a window into the reinforcing carbon strip at the bottom of the door, which is needed to install the aux latch.

Life is choices, I guess.
 
Last edited:
Trinidad TB20 Door

I have about 500 Hrs in a Trinidad TB20. The TB20 has the same door configuration as the RV10. The copilot door opened once on me after takeoff. The door opened about six inches and stayed there. It did not flutter or flop around. I was able to close it in flight. A door opening in flight is somthing that has happened to a lot of us, pilot error or not. I hate to think that if it does happen that the door will depart the aircraft and damage the tail. I have hopes that sombody is looking into this potential problem.
 
What may not be a problem on the Trinidad, just might turn into a problem at RV speeds, and ROC.:D
 
Hi Will,

Were you flying the plane when this happened? Also, was there (or could there have been) any previous structural damage to the airplane prior to this door incident - from something like a hard landing?

Just so I'm clear....you're saying ALL of the damage in the pics was a direct result of this incident and no previous incidents?

Again, just curious.

Cheers,
Stein
 
Hi Will,

Were you flying the plane when this happened? Also, was there (or could there have been) any previous structural damage to the airplane prior to this door incident - from something like a hard landing?

Just so I'm clear....you're saying ALL of the damage in the pics was a direct result of this incident and no previous incidents?

Again, just curious.

Cheers,
Stein

The silence is deafening.....................Where's Paul Harvey when you need him?
 
Will, I am not trying to get on your case, but...

Hi Will,

Were you flying the plane when this happened? Also, was there (or could there have been) any previous structural damage to the airplane prior to this door incident - from something like a hard landing?

Just so I'm clear....you're saying ALL of the damage in the pics was a direct result of this incident and no previous incidents?

Again, just curious.

Cheers,
Stein

I think that Stein and I have both read on the Internet elsewhere that you were not flying the plane at the time of the door separation and that the hard landing happen on a flight prior to the door separation flight. The NTSB report seems to contradict the first item.
We all are interested in safety and need to help in anyway that we can to get there, but we need to know the facts. Would you please clarify these points?

Kent
 
The silence is deafening.....................Where's Paul Harvey when you need him?

So....as you may have suspected....can we get the "whole" story....

Maybe land hard, bounce, twist...fly again...lose a door?

Not that it would explain any other lost doors..
 
And one other thing from a fiduciary standpoint....where do these doors "LAND"....on a playground:eek:, school:eek:, hospital:eek:, retirement home:eek:, Hospice:eek:, Fire or Police department:eek: or some other heart wrenching news at 5 location.
 
Door Separation ?'s from kentb

Fire away, I have thick skin. Any thing I can do to provide clarity.

My partner was flying 416EC at the time. The "green light" and "fludder" are quotes from him.

I inspected the plane 2 days later and the damage in the pic's is what I saw except for the alternator damage striking the cowl--Vic Syracuse pointed that out when he inspected 416EC a week or so later.

My partner states he is not aware of a specific landing incident with him strong enough for 4.2G landing. Upon inspection by my flight instrructor on the day of the accident, he noted 4.2G+, .06G- on the Dynon, which is not date sensitive, and he made a photo of the screen.

My last flight in 416EC was 8/30/07 with my instructor and we "zeroed out" the G indicator before takeoff. No damage noted on preflight. On 9/8/07 my partner blew a tire on landing but reported nothing unusual, just trying to clear the active for a jet behind him and the swerve to the exit ramp took weight off the tire.

Jesse speculated the copilot door must have suffered structual disfigurement [by a prior incident, e.g. 4.2G landing...my wording] and that might possibly have caused the door to separate. I would say that being the case, the pilot door should show signs of similar collateral damage. I saw none on a visual, but did not check it for structual alignment, etc. As for "all" of the damage related to the door separation, I leave that to the pros/experts to decide.

Will peacock
 
Door separation ?'s from kentb[CORRECTION]

PRIOR RESPONSE CORRECTION ADDED IN BRACES...."on the day of the accident"[AFTER 416EC LANDED]
 
Actually, I posted this question once before (2 days ago)....I read the other post on the list this morning. My question was just a repeat of my much earlier post when I asked about Will flying the plane and other ancillary damage to the aircraft.

I'm not trying to flame anyone here because it's obvious that with a number of doors having separated from similar airframes that something must be awry. That being said, I rarely ask questions like I did the first time if I don't at least have an inkling as to the answer. I wasn't looking for anything specific nor trying to point fingers (or a half of a finger), just being my usual self trying to keep things on an even keel because I started to see people making assumptions that pehaps were not entirely accurate.

Weird things happen when facts are presented in different ways. Whether intentional or by omission, people started assuming certain things (like the original poster being the one flying the plane). There was a few "thank goodness you made it down ok" type of quotes, that as a result of not telling people outright the answer when I asked the question the first time lead people to believe you were flying the plane. Then you made some statements that seemed like first person accounts....

Anyway, I digress. Again, nothing personal. I don't know Mr.Peacock at all, so I have no reason to dis-believe what he says. Perhaps we can just chalk this up to being new to the forums and not entirely understanding the conclusions people will draw from things. Having spent some time studying aircraft accidnet investigations in a previous life, I learned that things are rarely (if ever) what they initially seem, and it's pretty difficult to draw any good conclusions with subjective inputs....

I still appreciate that Will posted the pics and is participating because he didn't have to. There have been other RV10 "incidents" that people have swept under the rug (Anyone ever see pics or hear an account of the RV10 with the dog paw on it after it's little incident?), and that does nothing to imrove overall safety.

So, in the end I hope we can all stay subjective until someone figures out what the heck really happened. I'm still curious about a number of things with this particular incident, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any black/white answers to some of them.

My 2 cents as usual!

Cheers,
Stein
 
I,ve been in the casinos at Tunica, Ms the last 3 days, had trouble getting the net out there, just got home or would have responded then. Im open to discussion of any thing on anyone's mind.
 
I,ve been in the casinos at Tunica, Ms the last 3 days, had trouble getting the net out there, just got home or would have responded then. Im open to discussion of any thing on anyone's mind.

Thanks Will, we appreciate your willingness to share, hopefully the entire RV-10 community will end up benefiting from these exchanges.
 
RV-10 Door Open in Flight

It has been so long ago (August 2006) that I don't remember where all I posted that my pilot's door opened on takeoff but it was posted on either VAFWWW or Matronics or both. It was after I had done the 40 hours flyoff and was only about 500 feet in the air when it happened. Initially I assumed the door was gone but after reducing power and starting a right turn to return to the airport, because I had a 18" strap hanging from the front of the door to help close it while seated, I saw the strap and reached up with my left hand grabbed it, kicked in rudder and pulled the door down to within about 12 inches of closing.

Naturally I continued to fly the airplane, announced to the tower that I had a door open and was returning for landing.

Because my strap was a loop I was able to slide my left arm through the loop and get my left hand back on the stick and do somewhat of a normal landing.

When I posted the results of such incident, I made it clear that the reason for the door coming open was because of pilot error. I DID NOT physically check the backside of the cabin frame to insure that the pins were all four through the cabin frame. This is now part of the final check list before pulling out onto the runway.

When I closed the pilot door the front pin went in and the rear pin slide outside. It is obvious from looking at the pictures of the most recent door separation that this was not the case. Had the rear pin been outside the cabin the door would have opened long before it got to cruise speed.

Having over 200 hours on my RV-10 now, it is obvious to me that IF:

1. All four door pins can be felt on the back side of the door frame; and

2. The door handle is not opened during flight; and

3. There is a reasonable tight fit of the door to the frame;

the RV-10 door will not come open during flight.

Any of the above being out of place can cause the door to open. I agree with the prior posters that the RV-10 door is the weakest link in the design but if you use the Van's door handles with the indention closure on the handle and physically check that the door pins are through the cabin frame it would be real hard to have a door open in flight.

I installed the Cross Aviation receased door handles and the biggest drawback on such handles is that they do not have a way to insure that the inside door handle isn't bumped and opens the pins. I added an elastic strap that goes over the handle in the closed position to help, which also allows the door to be opened from the outside, but if I start flying young eagles I will come up with a more secure way to prevent the passenger door from being opened in flight by anyone but me.

If I had it to do over again I would install the Van's door handle instead of the Cross Avaiation recessed door handle, but having learned what I now know I would go back and redo it.

As far as putting a lock on the Van's door handle design it is not all that hard. If you can build the -10 you should have little problem in adding a door lock.
 
Back
Top