WING TIPS: Tricky door tricksThe most important …

1 wing TIPS: Tricky door tricksBy Dennis Wolter, Cincinnati, OhioWing Tips is inspired by folks who are willing to showothers the ropes, sharing their knowledge and lendingtheir insight into the art and science of there is any one statement I am known for repeat-ing often to my employees, it is Strive for perfec-tion, and accept nothing less than very, very good. My passion for Beech airplanes over the past 50 years hasproved to me that Walter Beech must have also thoughtalong those lines. But since not much in life is truly per-fect, I am provided with something upon which to basethis particular I were asked to identify one part of a Bonanza thatfalls a little short of perfection, I would instantly initiate aconversation about the latching mechanism of the cabindoor. The problem is not as tedious as most owners andmechanics have made it out to be. I could write morepages on this subject than any of you would ever take thetime to read.

2 But in the spirit of these short wing Tips articles I will share what I believe to be a few importantadjustment techniques that will help make your relation-ship with your door a little less troublesome. I ve learned some tricks on how to properly closethese doors , as well as simple adjustments and maintenance procedures that will resolve most of theissues we have with them. (In all fairness to Beech, overthe years they have improved the mechanism and adjustment features.)For a Beech cabin door to close properly, the mech-anisms must be well lubricated. All it takes is a fewdrops of plain old 3-in-1 Household Oil on all themoving parts. After oiling, and before attempting toclose the door, rotate the door handle clockwise to thefull open position, then release the thumb button androtate counterclockwise until the thumb button clicksinto the detent.

3 The latching mechanisms are now cor-rectly indexed to facilitate optimum ease of briskly pull the door closed (don t slam it),holding some inward pressure as the aft door latch seatsitself into the striker plate. With the door in this closedposition, see that the upper portion of the door drawsitself completely into the frame as you rotate the handlecounterclockwise to the locked position. The final checkis to firmly push the door at the top latched area to con-firm that the upper latch is fully most important thing to know about these doorsis that your airplane will fly perfectly with a door thatcomes open in flight. However, if your door does popopen, and someday it likely will, remember to fly theairplane, land safely and then close the door than a lot of noise, and possibly losing charts fromthe copilot s seat, an inflight door opening is a your Beech door just isn t quite right, you shouldknow that there are external as well as internal adjust-ments that can be made.

4 Internal adjustments, thoughrarely needed, are best done by an experienced A&Pwho understands the function of these doors . There areseveral external adjustments that can be easily and legal-ly done by an aircraft owner as a preventive , when you close your door, you have a difficulttime getting the latch bolt to catch on the aft striker,there are a couple of things you can do. First, install anAN960-10 spacer washer under each mounting screw toallow the stainless striker-receiver to stand off the doorframe slightly. If that doesn t do the trick, loosen thefour screws that secure the latch bolt mechanism to theUsing .063 inch thick #10 flat washer shims for the door the aft door latch bolt ABS SEPTEMBER 2010 - 29trailing edge of the cabin door and move the latchingmechanism inward as far as the slotted holes allow. Ifyou find you still have a problem, the aft edge of thebrass latch bolt is probably worn and needs to be filed ordisc-sanded to a nearly sharp point.

5 Dressing the edge ofthe latch bolt will usually take care of the latch bolt and striker receiver are workingwell, the only other simple adjustment will be one madeat the pesky upper latch. If your door has become veryeasy to close and leaks air or water at the top, simplyturn the forward adjusting screw of the upper latchreceiver clockwise one or two turns until a firm rotationof the door handle fully closes the upper latch. If a newwindlace cord or door seal has been installed, it may benecessary to loosen the adjusting screw to facilitateproper door closure. It is not uncommon to have toinstall a slightly longer adjusting screw in order to getthe door to secret weapon - These adjustments usually cure 80percent of the door issues I ve encountered over theyears. But no door latching discussion would be complete without my letting you in on our secretweapon.

6 At Air Mod, we use a stick of white lithiumgrease, sometimes known as door ease, to lubricatethe surfaces of the striker receiver, the latch bolt and thecatch hook of the upper latch. This viscous, waxy substance works very well on the high pressure surfacesof the door latching some of the techniques described herewill help you make peace with those Tricky Beech time we ll talk about baggage and cargo doors (they need a little TLC also). If you have any questionsor suggestions, give me a call. Until then, fly safe!Editor s Note: For more info about getting your doors inworking order, see Dave Fleckenstein s article aboutreplacing door seals on page 42. It is not uncommon to have to install a slightly longer adjusting screw in order to getthe door to latch, especially if a new windlace cord or door seal has been installed. DENNIS WOLTER30- ABS SEPTEMBER 2010 the aft edge of the door latch the upper door latch receiver.