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Karl, and all.
As Graham said, we do want the hinges to fail. The door tab may fail as
well. You are right as usual Karl. Who cares about the door as long as
it comes off and doesn't affect flight characteristics.
Any damage to the top of the aircraft, in my experience, is caused by
grinding, or crushing the glass with the hardware, in the installation
of the hinges. This is where the glass can get compromised. Some
damage will always occur during a door detachment. Although I have seen
poor layups in this area where there was only gelcoat holding one corner
of the rebate in the hinge top. A couple layers of glass and a bit of
filler fixes that during the build.
If built as per the manual with stronger hinges, you can count on a door
that opens in flight, will really tear up the top attachment area.
You'll be doing a much larger repair for sure. If many different knobs,
straps, locks, hold down fixtures are attached to the door it will have
more momentum and even more damage will occur.
If one builds the hinges as described and puts the hardware and washers
as depicted (bed them in flox if you must due to the curves and such)
and there are no manufacturing flaws, the door departs with only
minimal damage to the hinge attach points. Usually it is fixable in a
few hours then fill sand prime and paint.
The doors as designed will last many years without damage as proved on
our oldest aircraft. If you damage your door while running up with the
door open, it is your fault, not the doors. If you allow the door to
flip open in gusty conditions, it is your fault. If you leave the door
open on the ground because it is hot, and another plane blasts yours
(like I did) it is your fault. If you have bad struts, replace them
with new ones and do the mod 66 or alternate as on my website to save
weight and eliminate the door lift problem. (I even contracted a US
factory to build new struts exclusively for me and my clients. Metal
fittings, fairly inexpensive, and I figure at five years just replace
them with the hoses on the engine and fuel system. There are no 970-3s
on the back of the fuselage door strut ball attachment so it will pull
out with a smaller hole and less damage if the metal end doesn't
release.) If the door doesn't fit, won't close, or latch without a
hydraulic ram, fix it.
If you want a plane to last forever, it won't, but say you did, it would
weigh a ton more due to all the extra stuff you must add for bullet
proof longevity.
I grudgingly learned to do the maintenance and follow an IRAN (Inspect
and Repair As Necessary) annual inspection discipline. I program
replacement of components as part of a time change schedule. I list all
my consumables on the computer and keep stock.
Two good old rules:
If you want to add something to the airplane, throw it up in the air and
if it hits the ground with a THUNK, its too heavy to be installed.
If you change one thing on a proven design, it affects 20 others.
See Drawing Attached or below. I don't know which shows on matronics:
Regards,
Bud Yerly
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----- Original Message -----
From: GRAHAM SINGLETON<mailto:grahamsingleton@btinternet.com>
To: europa-list@matronics.com<mailto:europa-list@matronics.com>
Sent: Friday, July 04, 2014 7:03 AM
Subject: Re: Europa-List: Re: DOOR detached during flight
Karl
it is desirable that the hinges let go, rather than tearing out half
the side of the fuselage.
The force on a door behaving like a wing is considerable.
Graham
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
From: Karl Heindl <kheindl@msn.com<mailto:kheindl@msn.com>>
To: "europa-list@matronics.com<mailto:europa-list@matronics.com>"
<europa-list@matronics.com<mailto:europa-list@matronics.com>>
Sent: Friday, 4 July 2014, 11:58
Subject: RE: Europa-List: Re: DOOR detached during flight
John,
But is it not desirable that the hinges fail when the door opens in
flight ? Rather than having the door flapping about and doing untold
damage ?
Karl
> Subject: Europa-List: Re: DOOR detached during flight
> From: john@wighton.net
> Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2014 00:26:43 -0700
> To: europa-list@matronics.com
>
>
> Can we just get one thing straight - the hinge did not break. The
structure has torn away around the hinge due to a tear-out failure mode.
The force generated by the door flying up means that almost any
airworthy structure would have failed.
>
> There is nothing wrong with the hinge design or manufacture. Build
to the spec and ensure the pins are engaged and the system is 100%
reliable.
>
> Any changes to this area is deemed to be a mod and would need to be
justified by a stress analysis and design submission to the LAA (in the
UK).
>
> Regards
> JW
>
> --------
> John Wighton
> Europa XS trigear G-IPOD
>
>
>
>
> Read this topic online here:
>
> http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=426058#426058
>
>
>
>
>
ank"
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