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Carbon fiber baggage door.

cobra48451

I'm New Here
There were some posts in the past about a guy that made carbon fiber baggage doors for the R V 8. Does anyone have any information about this.
 
I won an RV8 carbon baggage door at a fly in in KY, several years ago. I had a relatively newly finished RV6, with no intention at that time of building an RV8. I gave it to my buddy Jon Thocker, and he used it. It fit very well and he didn’t have to go through the gyrations you have to do to make the stock metal one fit. I don’t think the original supplier of that part is still in business. New opportunity for someone maybe…..
 
The Van's RV-8 baggage door is not really that hard to build if you are careful and follow the instructions that have been shared quite a few times here on VAF. Assuming that avoiding of building the door is the reason for the interest in the carbon fiber version...
 
I can’t remember the baggage door being all that difficult. I vaguely remember laying on my back in the fuselage and match drilling the inside skin to the ribs with the outside skin probably taped in place. I think that was a key to getting a good fit.
 
I can’t remember the baggage door being all that difficult. I vaguely remember laying on my back in the fuselage and match drilling the inside skin to the ribs with the outside skin probably taped in place. I think that was a key to getting a good fit.

Greg Hughes says the new -1 matched-hole kit baggage door is much easier to build well. The older kits took quite a bit of fiddling, and ideally a shrinker, to get everything just right for a good fit. When I want to judge craftsmanship on an older RV-8, the first thing I look at is the fit of the baggage door.
 
The door doesn't take that much effort to build but the fitment of the latch blocks at the firewall and the baggage bulkhead gave me a lot of problems. On some RV8 I saw, there were some gaps at the seam next to the firewall. The trouble is the builder had bent the firewall a smidge too much angle and this led to the big gap very late in the build, which was harder to fix. Mine came out good with a lot of colorful language. Also you can tell people had trouble with the latch blocks with some missed drilled holes. I had to order a couple of replacements to make them fit.
 
RV-8 carbon baggage door

We at James Aircraft are interested in building any parts the RV community needs. With a good fitting door I can make a mold and make parts.
 
Fwd Baggage Door

I new the builder of the original door. He took a mold off of one of my RV8 builds.
He no longer makes them.
The door he made for my airplane was the best thing, because of the latch. No key required. Easy to install. I owned the plane 12 years and 750 hours.
No problems.
I wish I could have one for my new RV8.
 
RV-8 baggage door

If someone wants to supply a baggage door I will make a mold and you get the first one free for helping. I will need to know how the latch pocket needs to be and any details.
 
If someone wants to supply a baggage door I will make a mold and you get the first one free for helping. I will need to know how the latch pocket needs to be and any details.

If you plan to make a mold, I think you should make a mold of the outer surface with a well fitted door that is latched tightly to the fuselage. This way the contour of the door match to what the surface of the structure was designed. Unsupported composite door skin can warp ever so slightly and will cause fitting issues down the line, not unlike the aluminum door that started out as unsupported aluminum sheets. A composite door should be stiffened with a core material instead of letting it flex like an aluminum sheet, then the builder will have to fit the door, taking away all the advantages of the composite design. Pulling a mold sheet of out a finished product is easy enough. Design a stiffened composite structure so fitting isn't required is why people are willing to pay extra for it.
 
RV-8 baggage door

If anyone in central Texas has an RV-8 suitable to make a mold off the baggage door, I can come to your location and make a mold. It won't damage your paint or plane and only take a few days of downtime.
 
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