Door lock

[Ken]

The other day while locking my CTSW door the lock came out with the key. It seemed like an easy fix to remove the access plate on the inside and reattach but it seems you would have to have the hands of a small child to get the latch and nut back on.

Any suggestions on how to reattach this?

Ken

N296CT 

 

[John Vance]

Ken - I’d be interested in seeing a photo of this. I had a similar issue with a baggage door lock, and was never able to get to the bottom of that situation since the door found its own way back to earth.  Did the retention nut back off?

[Bill3558]

I recently had the same issue.  Lock fell out after opening. Will put some locktite on the retaining nut. 
John, so you had the baggage door come off in flight?  What was that like? Did the string break right away?  if not it had to be banging like hell.  Was a replacement readily available?

[Tip]

Has anyone addressed the engaging pin wear and door frame wear? This contributes to door leaks. The pin gets a low spot and the frame gets oblonged.

[John Vance]

2 hours ago, Bill3558 said:

I recently had the same issue.  Lock fell out after opening. Will put some locktite on the retaining nut. 
John, so you had the baggage door come off in flight?  What was that like? Did the string break right away?  if not it had to be banging like hell.  Was a replacement readily available?

Yes, it came off in flight and struck the stabilator, so I had to replace both.  I was returning to KLOU after a lunch date with my wife, and we heard just one thump.  The airplane handled just fine, not even a change in noise level, so I thought we may have hit a little bird - no such luck.  The string broke immediately, which was good.  I was lucky to be able to find parts from the Guttmans in Tulsa, who were very helpful, just great to work with.  I must say the door took a lot of effort, though.  My daughter is a graphics artist, and was able to make the vinyl for me, working with digital cut files & color codes provided by FD, and thanks to her, it came to me pre-cut with colors that matched perfectly.  Applying the graphics was easy after an hour of YouTube vids.   Getting the new door to fit properly was a chore, but it turned out OK. Installing the new stabilator was easy, though.  Having this failure on the cabin door is annoying, but you definitely don’t want it happening on a baggage door.  I now have an insurance claim that will haunt me for years, so y’all might want to take a look at those latches occasionally.  I still have the damaged stab if anyone is interested.