REFLECTOR: Unexpected door opening

[Al Gietzen]

And for those who at the end of your personal deliberations who would still
opt for the gull wing, would something as simple as a deadbolt (weighing
only a few ounces) serve as a fail-safe back-up to the traditional lock
assembly?  Thanks for your thoughts.

 Robin 

Robin;

 

My thought is that we essentially have 4 'deadbolts' in the current
configuration.  We simply need a 'dead sure' way of knowing they are in
place.

 

My further observation is (added to by my experience flying home with a
temporary door) that net outward forces on the door in flight are relatively
small - at least compared to the strength of the four latches. I think there
is likely some negative (outward) pressure over much of the door, likely
stronger toward the front edge, and some positive (inward) pressure in the
area of the strake extension, and its junction. 

 

I have no idea if there are forces due to small distortion of the fuselage
during flight that may work to move the latch pins out of the tubes, but it
is not impossible.

 

FWIW,

 

Al

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