Richard,many Cruisairs (including my own) have window sash locks on the bottom of the door. It is kind of funky,probably illegal, and unsafe if anyone ever has to drag you out of the plane in a hurry. What is an interesting modification is to put a rod down from the door handle that extends into the sill when the regular handle is turned. That is the way the 14-19 door stays closed. I have seen two Cruisairs doors like that. I dont know if they used the guts from a 14-19 door ,or if they simply added a small bellcrank to the 14-13 door mechanism. The rod runs inside the door,so it is not visible. It might even have been a factory mod on the later Cruisairs? Another thing to think about is the forward, bottom corner of the door that sometimes pulls out. A friend of mine put a short 1/4 inch rod into the front side of the door, near the bottom, and a hole in the wood trim that the door closes against. If I remember correctly the hole was lined with a piece of metal tubing and the rod extended about a half inch. When the door closes the rod slips into the hole and the door stays tight. Neither of these mods are visible unless you are really looking for them.____Just some food for thought._____Grant.
Door Latches etc.
- Thread starter gjordan
- Start date
Hi Grant,
The rod down the door seems like a neat idea. Have been looking at window sash latches and such for the bottom and possibly the top of the door also, never considered how the door would be opened from the outside if I was unable to undo the latches fron the inside, kind of sobering I guess. When I was training in a Skyhawk we always locked the doors when we flew because they would sometimes pop open if we didn't, might have been in the same situation without realizing it. Having trouble getting the door to fit the opening properly, the top curved part hits too early and the back of the door were it bends to go to the latch is still not tight, getting it closer by triming and tweeking but still not happy with it. Could someone tell me how the stock top latch (I think it's stock) is supposed to work mine has a handle that turns a verticle rod that has a hook pinned to it which rotates to catch another rod set back behind the curved wood of the door jam. It pulls the top of the door in nicely but it seems like it should over center somehow to hold the pressure on, the hook portion was broken when I got the plane and I made another kind of by guess, might have missed something. Thanks, Richard
The rod down the door seems like a neat idea. Have been looking at window sash latches and such for the bottom and possibly the top of the door also, never considered how the door would be opened from the outside if I was unable to undo the latches fron the inside, kind of sobering I guess. When I was training in a Skyhawk we always locked the doors when we flew because they would sometimes pop open if we didn't, might have been in the same situation without realizing it. Having trouble getting the door to fit the opening properly, the top curved part hits too early and the back of the door were it bends to go to the latch is still not tight, getting it closer by triming and tweeking but still not happy with it. Could someone tell me how the stock top latch (I think it's stock) is supposed to work mine has a handle that turns a verticle rod that has a hook pinned to it which rotates to catch another rod set back behind the curved wood of the door jam. It pulls the top of the door in nicely but it seems like it should over center somehow to hold the pressure on, the hook portion was broken when I got the plane and I made another kind of by guess, might have missed something. Thanks, Richard
Richard, the top latch rod should extend through the top of the door and have a handle on the outside also. I have seen a factory drawing of the hook/latch part of the mechanism but I dont remember if it was in a very old club news letter or if the club has it on record? Maybe Robert knows. I will look tomorrow to see if I have a part that you could copy. It is interesting that starting with the 14-19-3 the middle,bottom,and top all latch with one turn of the main handle. The Cruisair door was not the peak of Bellanca engineering.______Grant.
Larry Lowenkron
Member
Richard, I emailed you a copy of Addendum 5 of one of the 337 for my plane. It is for the installation of a Piper top door latch. pn 63034-00. Hope that might be of some help.
Larry
Larry
Larry Lowenkron
Member
emailed Kevin. we really need to make this a new thread if we keep going with it.!??
Gary Brink
New member
Larry,
I bought a 14-13 door with a Piper latch replacing the traditional Bellanca "handle" but not the top latch. Do I need a 337 for it and if so, do you have one?
Thanks,
Gary
I bought a 14-13 door with a Piper latch replacing the traditional Bellanca "handle" but not the top latch. Do I need a 337 for it and if so, do you have one?
Thanks,
Gary
Larry Lowenkron
Member
Gary,
I guess it will be up to your IA if you need a 337. As you know, they are used to document a MAJOR repair or alteration; you might look up the definition of major alteration in FAR 1, and FAR 43, APP A. My plane did have one, ( as part of a 337 with 13 parts!!-see if that would fly today!) and I will send you the addendum that I previously sent out.
Larry
I guess it will be up to your IA if you need a 337. As you know, they are used to document a MAJOR repair or alteration; you might look up the definition of major alteration in FAR 1, and FAR 43, APP A. My plane did have one, ( as part of a 337 with 13 parts!!-see if that would fly today!) and I will send you the addendum that I previously sent out.
Larry
Larry Lowenkron
Member
Following is the portion of the 337 that was approved for my plane in 1984 regarding the top door latch.
Installation of Piper ( part number 63034-00 ) top door latch. Originally there was only a short alignment pin which did not keep the top of the door from opening in flight.
1. Cut a 1/4 by 2~ inch horizontal slot in the middle of the top of the wood door frame to accommodate the "hook" of the latch. Screwed a 1/8 inch diameter woodscrew vertically up into the slot to serve as a latch-pin.
2. Cut a round hole 4~ inch in diameter in the top inner skin of the door to insert the door latch assembly. Fabricated a round cover plate of 5 3/4 inch diameter from 2024-T3, .032 aluminum to enclose the latch assembly in the door, and secured it with five 8R x ½ PK screws and NAS 395 Tinnerman nuts. A 9/16 inch diameter hole was drilled through the center of the cover plate and on through the outer door skin to allow the center shaft of the latch to protrude. The two handles supplied with the latch assembly are then attached to the ends of the rotating shaft to actuate the latch. The latch assembly is - secured to the outer doorskin with 3 machine screws provided (for anti-rotation).
3. All work done in accordance with AC 43.13-1A, chapter 2, section 3, paragraph 99.
Installation of Piper ( part number 63034-00 ) top door latch. Originally there was only a short alignment pin which did not keep the top of the door from opening in flight.
1. Cut a 1/4 by 2~ inch horizontal slot in the middle of the top of the wood door frame to accommodate the "hook" of the latch. Screwed a 1/8 inch diameter woodscrew vertically up into the slot to serve as a latch-pin.
2. Cut a round hole 4~ inch in diameter in the top inner skin of the door to insert the door latch assembly. Fabricated a round cover plate of 5 3/4 inch diameter from 2024-T3, .032 aluminum to enclose the latch assembly in the door, and secured it with five 8R x ½ PK screws and NAS 395 Tinnerman nuts. A 9/16 inch diameter hole was drilled through the center of the cover plate and on through the outer door skin to allow the center shaft of the latch to protrude. The two handles supplied with the latch assembly are then attached to the ends of the rotating shaft to actuate the latch. The latch assembly is - secured to the outer doorskin with 3 machine screws provided (for anti-rotation).
3. All work done in accordance with AC 43.13-1A, chapter 2, section 3, paragraph 99.
Gary Brink
New member
My email is garylbrink@yahoo.com but my IA liked the door when he saw it so it probably isn't a big deal. Also, we have a very reasonable FAA guy in the area and he isn't afraid to give field approvals if it makes sense.
Gary
Gary