Right door fitting and Aerosport latch assembly

After a LOT more sanding of the right door edges (OMG will the sanding ever end?), we got to the point where they fit reasonably well within the cabin cover:

Lower aft corner of the door, sitting flush with the fuselage

Lower forward corner of the door, sitting flush with the fuselage

It was then time to attach the hinges. The parts were WD-1018-L/R and WD-1019-L/R, and the plans are slightly confusing about what "L" and "R" mean - they show L and R on the left door, but then no hint as to whether the right door is a mirror or the same. Facebook rescued me (they're the same - R is forward on the passenger side and aft on the pilot side), so I made 1/8" shims and drilled them into place:

Labeled door hinges

Door hinge positioning shims

Door hinge in position for drilling

Door hinges attached to cabin cover

With the door in place, we finally match-drilled the hinges into it:

Door trimmed to fit sitting in the cabin cover

Preparing to match-drill the hinges to the door

Door swung open on its hinges

Hinges bolted to the door

Door sitting flush with the cabin cover

I also got to work on assembling the handle/latch mechanism (for which Ed's video is extremely helpful, except they mount the e-ring on the opposite side - seems to be an older version of the same kit?):

Door handle plates with nutplates riveted 

Handle aseembly with handle plates, spur gear and Aerosport inner ring

Handle mechanism attached to delrin spacer, strike plate, lock and cam

Trimmed lock cam to rotate freely

With this, the handle and lock mechanisms work!


Finally, I trimmed the openings and edges of the Aerosport door handle cover a bit, to fit better and to not interfere with the latch spring when mounted:

Enlarged handle cover hole to not interfere with spring

Some additional trimming of the covers will still be required to fit the lock.

Now on to repeat all the cutting and sanding for the other door...

Time lapse:


Total cabin door rivets: 40
Total cabin door time: 84.9h

No comments:

Post a Comment