Fred,
I like the idea of getting rid of the gas strut as well..... I just wonder
if there could be some sort of one-way (closing) damping mechanism to avoid
the inevitable broken passenger fingers? Two way damping would be easy, but
not acceptable when lifting the door. hmmmmm.....
If only there was something like:
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.asp?page=40596&category=3,43740,43745
&ccurrency=1&SID
But smaller and lighter. Anyway, I wonder how it would perform on our cold
-20C Canadian winter days.
Cheers,
Pete
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: Gas Struts
That's a pretty clever arrangement, and sounds like at least two folks
think the benefit of the gas strut is marginal at best. The effort to
raise the door against gravity is a wash with the effort to pull it
down with against the force of the strut, but I wonder if a day comes
the plexiglass will no longer endure the flexing of the door in strong
winds (ditto re the hinges). I can see a safety benefit, as otherwise
some pax someday somewhere is going to let it drop, while the other
hand is draped over the jamb.
Are there other benefits to the gas strut?
I mocked up my arrangement yesterday, and it looks like the magic
dimension of a single bracket is 1/2" x 10" (1/6" steel), and slotted
for a #8 screw. Net savings over factory arrangement is over 2 oz. a
side, plus added weight of other mods suggested so far.
Regards,
Fred F.
> The KISS principle at last - congratulations!
>
> Peter
> N6XX
>
> > Frank Mycroft wrote:
> >
> > I think it was G-BWKG (Trevor Jackson) who, instead of the gas struts,
> > used two bits of light alloy angle hinged in the middle and held
> > slightly over-centre when in the open position by a bit of rubber
> > bungee. Seemed to work fine and having to carry the weight of the
> > door when opening wasn't a problem, and not only did it put no strain
> > at all on the door, it also weighed next to nothing.
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