REFLECTOR: Missing forward hatch

[michalk]

I have a latch on the removable front hatch as well.  Do you have any 
pictures of how the assembly was installed?  Did the latch fail?  Or 
some other faster?

I have a toungue that holds the front edge in place, and a spring loaded 
fiberglass latch I made.  I'm fixed gear so won't have the high 
pressure, and the front area is not sealed with respect to the cabin. 
So hopefully in my case there is actually a vacuum holding the hatch in.

Good to know the airplane flew fine without the hatch.

Chuck Harbert wrote:
> Yesterday, when I took off, my forward hatch exited the plane just after 
> lift off.  Obviously, this caused me some concern, but it soon became 
> evident that the plane flew fine with a 1 sq. ft. opening in the nose. 
> Fortunately, I had sealed the cabin from the nose, so I didn't have a 
> 100 kt wind blowing in. I went around and landed without a problem.
> 
> I access my battery from thru this hatch and use a battery tender, so I 
> must not have secured it properly when I reinstalled the hatch. I have a 
> spring loaded latch similar to a door latch that keeps it secure.  I 
> think when I rotated the wind came in thru the front wheel opening (RG) 
> and put pressure on the bottom of the door which blew it open. The small 
> chain that held it broke quickly, and the hatch went over the windshield 
> and didn't hit the prop. I was glad that the chain broke because it 
> would have beat up the front of the plane and possibly come into the 
> windshield or prop in level flight.
> 
>> From now on I will have screws fastening it down. I'm passing this 
>> along so 
> 
> that you may learn from my experience.
> 
> Chuck H
> 
> 
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