Bill,
    Shaping the doors with the after edge making contact first was a recommendation from Lancair that was implemented. While on jack stands, this alteration appears to be the perfect solution. It is extremely difficult to pull the doors open (by hand) to the gap seen in the photographs. The force needed to pull the doors open makes me question just how much aerodynamic force is being generated if this is the root cause. This is surprising because in my mind, I would consider the sculpted outback gear doors would have a higher potential to create a lower pressure area just behind the hump. That is the original reason I chose not to use them (increased drag). The existing doors are the cutout pieces from the lower wing used for the standard gear. They present a smooth flat surface on the underside of the wing (at least while sitting on jack stands). The making of these doors was time consuming from the tweaking needed to deal with tiny clearances. I even bought six different brands (or type) tires (just one of each) mounted, measured, altered tire pressures and installed to determine what tire provided the absolute largest clearance. It was hard to believe that the best tire for the greatest clearances was the Lancair recommended McCleary. To get some of the clearances, parts of the door and wing surface (inside skins) were cut away. The removal of this material probably compromised the rigidity of the doors which could explain my difficulties. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't but at this point there is too much time invested to walk away (and use the standard outback gear doors) without trying everything possible. 

Mark Quinn   
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Hannahan <wfhannahan@yahoo.com>
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Sent: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:50 am
Subject: [LML] outback gear doors-vibration is back