X-Virus-Scanned: clean according to Sophos on Logan.com Return-Path: Sender: To: lml@lancaironline.net Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 08:38:58 -0400 Message-ID: X-Original-Return-Path: Received: from mail-ie0-f177.google.com ([209.85.223.177] verified) by logan.com (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 6.0.7) with ESMTPS id 6509145 for lml@lancaironline.net; Wed, 09 Oct 2013 22:39:10 -0400 Received-SPF: pass receiver=logan.com; client-ip=209.85.223.177; envelope-from=weinsweigd@gmail.com Received: by mail-ie0-f177.google.com with SMTP id e14so1205698iej.22 for ; Wed, 09 Oct 2013 19:38:36 -0700 (PDT) X-Received: by 10.50.25.129 with SMTP id c1mr4562267igg.23.1381372716221; Wed, 09 Oct 2013 19:38:36 -0700 (PDT) X-Original-Return-Path: Received: from [192.168.1.18] (dynamic-acs-24-112-177-176.zoominternet.net. [24.112.177.176]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPSA id ih14sm10845662igb.7.1969.12.31.16.00.00 (version=TLSv1 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Wed, 09 Oct 2013 19:38:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Baggage door potential disaster From: David Weinsweig Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: iPad Mail (9B206) X-Original-Message-Id: X-Original-Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2013 22:38:33 -0400 X-Original-To: Lancair Mailing List Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Mime-Version: 1.0 (1.0) Early on in the flying of my Propjet, I headed home from Airventure after fi= lling the baggage compartment with toys for the kids and a folding chair whi= ch was the last item I put in before closing the baggage door. We equipped t= he baggage door with the remote push button mod. The button was installed as= Brad suggested-hidden by the cabin door when closed and locked. At altitud= e half way through the flight home, ATC asked me to turn left. It was a nic= e VFR day and I was hand flying so I made a steep left turn. Suddenly, while= in the bank, I heard a loud bang which caught my attention and significantl= y elevated my heart rate. After verifying cabin pressurization was good, all= instruments were showing normal, and the plane flew properly, my first thou= ght was that a gear door had blown open for some reason. The plane was flyin= g fine though there was a slight sound of "wind" that persisted the rest of t= he flight.=20 After landing, I looked all around and under the plane. Everything looked f= ine until I noticed that I did not need to open the baggage door to get the t= oys out as there was no baggage door!! Amazingly, the only thing that blew o= ut of the baggage compartment was the chair. All of the toys remained! I believe that when I made the steep bank the chair pushed against the door o= r perhaps the latch system causing the baggage door to open. I was very for= tunate that there was no damage to the plane. We made a new baggage door in= stalling the standard barrel locks which I believe are much more secure than= the aftermarket push button system.=20 I agree with Peter. Although sleek and cool, the remote push button baggage= door system is NOT reliable and is NOT safe IMHO. Judging from the documen= ted multiple failures of this system, I believe it should be avoided. David Weinsweig Propjet N750DW 315 hrs Sent from my iPad=