I=92m an experienced man ! not because I will reach 60 next July, not
because
I logged more than 650 hours for the last 25 years on 11 different GA
planes=85 Just because a lot of =93opportunities=94 happened to me
during that
time. Including two door departures on my Europa. Yes two: first because
the
rear shoot bolt guide felled at last opening and the rear shoot bold
disengaged at first shakes during the following take-off. Second because
I
didn=92t modify the latch cover which prevents the passenger to touch it
with
his elbow and it=92s what happened when he tried to take out his
pull-over
(the mod was done since)=85
None of these two cases whould have been avoided with any additional
light
on the panel (and you know Murphy=92s low: the led would burn at he time
it
would be necessary to light). The only way to avoid these stupidities is
to
follow up good processes (check-list help) and be carrefull and
attentioned
to what you do!
BTW these principles didn=92t prevented us to land with 5 Kt of back
wind
yesterday because we even hadn=92t a look to the windsock coming back
---From a
local flight engaged on the other orientation of the runway with an
absolute
no wind J
Take care!
Max Cointe
<mailto:mcointe@free.fr> mcointe@free.fr
F-PMLH Europa XS_TriGear
Kit #560-2003 912ULS/AirmasterAP332 450 hours
F-PLDJ Dyn=92A=E9ro MCR 4S
Kit #27-2002 912ULSFR/MTProp MTV7A 1550 heures
De : owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] De la part de Bud Yerly
Envoy=E9 : dimanche 10 mars 2013 18:36
=C0 : europa-list@matronics.com
Objet : Re: Europa-List: Re: mid-door latch
Too true John.
I have not been privy to the article on door departure.
Could someone send me a copy via email to review?
I'm afraid that in my career, I have seen many canopy losses and gear up
landings. Bitching Betty annunciators, and warning lights doesn=92t
prevent
loss, a good old look at the latches and in lighter planes pushing on
the
canopy does. In the F-4, the Back Seater, read the checklist and was
listening for "Canopy closed, locked, warning light out, stripes aligned
(the mechanical locking indicator because the canopy weighed 275 pounds
and
you really couldn't move it) then took off with his canopy mechanically
unlocked but the warning light out (misadjusted switch). OOPs. Trust
me,
if you have one latch undone on the Europa (or Cherokee) door, if you
push
on the door, it will crack open. Make it a habit to push on both
clamshell
doors in your safety check prior to takeoff, it works well, requires no
power, wiring, or crafty workmanship. If you are not flexible enough to
move easily to reach to the aft end of the door, lean forward and push
on
the middle of the door (use caution with ladies to whom you are not
intimate
with) and it still works. My concern is that it is not hard to add
light
switches or drill the shoot bolt so the pin can be observed but it gets
ignored unless the habits are instilled in one's preflight operation.
Upholsterer's and painters can screw up those warning systems unless you
supervise them properly. I have seen many stall warning lights on at
totally flying speeds and were ignored because the builder just didn't
have
time to fix it, and I have been on the runway when the canopy light was
on
because it was hot, the canopy quickly closed and the takeoff roll
started
and aborted by me, the observer pilot, because the pilot was preoccupied
to
get off the ground for traffic (he trusted me, and it was my door).
Another
was lost because the front pin was not engaged and the warning light
switch
was installed only on the aft pin. Only good habits, visual
confirmation
and honest checklist compliance work for sure as familiarity breeds
contempt. We are creatures of habit...
Regards,
Bud Yerly
----- Original Message -----
From: John Heykoop <mailto:john.heykoop@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2013 3:21 PM
Subject: Re: Europa-List: Re: mid-door latch
Hi Alan
I agree that the article in the LAA magazine was very interesting. It
would
have been even better if it had highlighted the benefits of having a
warning
light that illuminates if one of the rear shoot bolts hasn't engaged
properly. You can go further and have warning lights for all the shoot
bolts, but it is really only the rear shoot bolts that are a problem.
Having a warning light does not mean that you don't need to physically
check
that the doors are shut properly, but it does help to guard against the
possibility that one day you may become distracted and fail to check
properly. Or the hot day when you taxi with the door open and think you
have
shut it properly before takeoff but haven't. Making absolutely sure that
the
rear shoot bolts have engaged is well nigh impossible once you are
strapped
in.
So why not have a warning light for the rear shoot bolts? It is cheap,
takes
up very little space on the instrument panel, weighs next to nothing and
is
easy to install. I would urge anybody who is still building to make sure
they install one.
Regards
John
G-JHKP
On 8 Mar 2013, at 23:50, "Alan Carter" <alancarteresq@onetel.net> wrote:
<alancarteresq@onetel.net>
>
> Hi All.
> Been reading in the LAA magazin about Europa door departing the
aircraft,
very interesting contribution.
> Way back in 2007 the previous owner of my aircraft, taxing with door
unlocked then took off, the pilots door departed the aircraft went over
the
top and hit the starboard wing and aileron,
> Pilots often taxy on a hot summers day with the door open, some have
installed warning devices on the Shoe Bolts, but has anyone designed a
latch
or stay to prevent it opening say less than 2".?
> Today i applied grease to the shoe bolts and found the door was very
very
much better in closing, the only draw back is the grease around the
housing
if ever a repair was needed, but i did notice a great difference in
closing,
and much less strain on the actual door handle.
> Its probably written down some where in the manual, but the forum jogs
ones memory, and this only took a minute.
>
> Alan
>
>
>
>
> Read this topic online here:
>
> <http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=395910#395910>
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=395910#395910
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> nbsp; Features Chat,
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via the Web title=http://forums.matronics.com/
href="http://forums.matronics.com";>http://forums.matronics.com
_p; generous bsp;
title=http://www.matronics.com/contribution href="
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