Hi, just to clarify and expand on my previous comments and noting the very valid
comments by John Wighton and others, the doors, even when closed can be semi
permanently deformed by the continuous action of the gas strut (mine certainly
has). This is generally limited to the flattish flange of the inboard rear top
corner of the door which over time becomes curled up a little causing rather
an unsightly gap at that corner. This deformation can be "reset" given time
with ingenious use of weights/ straps/ pressure etc plus careful warming of the
corner. (The gas strut repositioning mod addresses this problem and helps
prevent it happening though I've not fitted it to mine).
I don't think this is the cause of people failing to lock the door correctly
though.
The "twisting" I referred to is simply caused by the (quite flexible) door
being twisted when it is open by the fact that it only has one gas strut fitted
to one edge of the door. If it had two gas struts, one at the front and
one at the rear it wouldn't twist - but think of the extra weight....! On mine,
if I disconnect the gas strut the door lowers down completely straight and
fits perfectly into the frame with no extra fiddling required. When I reconnect
the gas strut then due to the induced twist, after I have lowered it I need
to give the bottom of the door my previously mentioned gentle nudge forward to
pop it fully into position (ie. to allow the rear edge of the door to move fully
inwards and fully home). It's a bit like on my old estate car - one of the
gas struts failed on the boot (trunk!) lid and the boot was a pig to shut
because
the one remaining (strong) gas strut twisted the thin boot lid so much
it needed a huge sideways force to make it fit!
Like John, I am completely convinced that the door design is very good and
completely
sound but that this is just one of those things that we all "need to know"
and that we all religiously check that the front and especially the (harder
to see!) rear of the door is correctly shut and in the correct position with
the shoot bolts engaged. Someone mentioned about warning devices - it's a very
personal thing but I prefer not to rely on bells and whistles which might let
me down one day but rely on myself to visually check each time. I just pray
that I don't let myself down one day!
I guess an issue is, and this will always be a risk, where someone less familiar
with the day to day operating of the plane flies it - classic example being
the engineer as the original poster mentioned. As owners I suppose this will
need to be one of many briefing points covered.
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G-TERN
Classic Mono
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