Sorry to hear about the door detachment. Steve Vestuti, builder of #573 (now
G-IPOD)
wisely added double DOORS check in the 'start up' and 'ready for departure'
checklists. I follow this and double brief PAX about checking the doors
before pulling the harness tight.
I found that the doors warp when left open in hot weather, this can result in
the
aft pins needing some shuffling - as per Jon Smith's narrative.
I re-stressed the hinges and pins having done some CFD work on the Europa, the
pressure differential across this part of the fuselage is quite low but the
doors
are large, so the resulting suction is enough (obviously) to warp the door
sufficient to disengage the remaining (fwd) pin. The RF (reserve factor) of
the aft pins, when properly engaged is very high >>2.
Conclusion is that the door design is sound, operators need a robust checklist
regime including a thorough PAX brief.
Regards
JW
--------
John Wighton
Europa XS trigear G-IPOD
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