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While this event is horrible reminder to us all to keep flying the airplane, this problem is not unique to the -10. Cirrus has had numerous accidents after the door popped open in flight.
Even in my early training in a Cessna 152 the door popped open during take off (50 ft off ground). At the time, I'll admit that I did the exact same thing as Stamper. I was lucky and it scared me enough to change my reactions in the future. We can engineer the airplane into a tank that eliminates all risk mechanically, or we can understand the risks and what behaviors we would implement under emergency situations. Even with the best latch, and extensive checklist procedures - we all need to be prepared for the what if. |
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So I would guess that a missing door does not cause any controlability problems. |
Would it be impolitic
to ask how many doors have departed or tried to depart RV-10 airframes? Starting to sound like a sobering percentage of the fleet has been involved at one time or another. Rest assured I am absorbing all appropriate lessons from this experience for a few years down the road.
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Fearmongering
While a few doors have departed the aircraft I cannot think of any instances where a properly latched door has opened in flight.
Also considering the number of 10s flying it is a very low percentage. If a pilot did not latch the door and ignored the warning lights and a door departs it should never cause a crash. We have met the enemy and they are us Gary Specketer |
My jodel has the same kind of door. I look at the latches just before advancing the throttle on each flight - I was taught to double check the stuff that will kill you and on that airplane that really is the only thing - the fuel valve has only 1 position so you won't make it to the runway if it is off and there is no primer to lock. But if I screw up one day because someone is talking to me or there is lots of ground traffic etc it will pop open and depart the plane almost certainly - the air is accelerating over the cockpit generating lots of lift. That is a risk I understand and I take it. Everyone has their own threshold of acceptable risk. I plan to do the same on the RV4 - develop a habit/procedure and stick to it. Not 100% foolproof but what is? Others might decide having a safety light is necessary and I totally get that.
I found a youtube video last night of some LSA type airplane in the UK landing after the canopy popped open. It was a tip-up. The guy hit the crops just short of the runway (like 5 ft) and the airplane landed on its nose, NG collapsed, prop hit the grass and it slid along the grass for 50 ft. I suspect he had increased drag and lots of distraction and messed up the landing. The video was from a go-pro of an airplane holding short to takeoff and you could hear the guys cringing as they watched the thing drag its nose down the grass runway. No injuries. So these types of things are not that rare. It comes down to being able to fly and manage the issue at the same time, which evidently is not easy. |
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I'd like to add a line item to Todd's checklist: slow the aircraft to approach speed. It might make the difference between losing/not losing the door. And apart from not wanting to lose the door itself, I really don't want to risk it flying back and hitting the tail. But don't slow down so much you get yourself into other kinds of trouble. |
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Condolences to friends and family of the pilot. |
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