Wood doors for 41 deluxe

[shipljl]

My 41 Deluxe project has metal doors. These doors seem heavy and they don't have windows that open. Can anyone tell me if wood doors with opening windows would be lighter? My metal doors weigh 8.2 lbs each. What weight might I expect for wood doors?

I've considered making new doors if I can get drawings or good pictures of how they were constructed. Even better would be an old door that could be used as a pattern.

[3Dreaming]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

My dad's airplane had the wood doors, but the outside skin had been converted to metal. They are the heaviest door I've seen on a T-craft, but very solid.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

I have the wood doors on my 41 and have the drawings to make them. How good of a carpenter/furniture maker are you? They are COMPLEX beasties but in all wood not all that heavy. I haven't weighed them but they feel lighter than the all sheet metal doors and heavier than the tube and fabric doors. They do close with a REALLY NICE "CLOMP!!" like an old 1950s car. Very solid feeling that gives confidence to new passengers.
Hank

If you want copies of the drawings send me a personal message and I will see if I can get copies made.

[shipljl]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

Hank,
I would love a set of drawings of the wood doors. I will send you a private message with my contact info. Please let me know how much I owe you for your efforts.

thanks,

John

[shipljl]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

I would also be interested in the tube and fabric doors if anyone has some extras, or drawings for them. I want to shave off all the weight I can since I am not planning on increasing the gross weight.

John

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

I have a set of tube and fabric doors for the 45 all cleaned up and primed/painted. I probably should put them on the list to draw unless someone else has already done it. They are VERY light!
Hank

[shipljl]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

Will 45 doors fit the 41 deluxe?

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

Will 45 doors fit the 41 deluxe?

only the wood doors will fit a deluxe, my doors done had to be at least 20 lbs. Heaviest door on a B definatley

[Ryan Johnson]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

Will wooden doors work for a 46' BC-12D? It's currently flying with the later all aluminum doors and they don't fit or close well.

Ryan

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

Just to muddy it up a bit, I have a 41 Deluxe with the steel frame aluminum covered doors and they are heavy but fit well. L

[Marv]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

I know none of us are expecting to crash our Taylorfcrafts but if i were to crash the last thing i would want, is wood door frames. Probably by the time most of our crafts were built stockcars with wooden door frames were outlawed. You had to replace the wood with steel. The reason was that sometimes in even a minor crash, the wood would break and turn into wood spears and wound and sometimes kill the driver. Marv

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

Makes a HUGE difference what kind of wood you use. About the worst is Redwood. When you hit it you get what we used to call "Toad Stickers". Long gently tapered spears with VERY sharp points. Spruce tends to snap across the grain before it splits along it. MUCH safer around our tended pink parts. The other thing is you face the stick frame with thin plywood which takes out the shear forces in a crash and stabilizes the structure. Good design in wood can be just as safe as steel, and bad design in steel can be just as bad as bad wood design. Best to just not crash. ;-)
Hank

[shipljl]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

My doors are all aluminum, no steel except in the latch mechanism and hinges. Where did these doors come from? It sounds like they aren't original, and I can't find anything about a door replacement in the logs. they do fit nicely and are well built, if heavy. Did someone make sheet metal doors for replacement sometime in the past? Or did a previous owner just do it himself without documenting it?

[ajfriz]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

Your doors sound interesting. Do they have pop out windows? I have most of the pieces for my doors that you can come check out if you'd like.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Wood doors for 41 deluxe

I would bet a past owner tore up the wood door and replaced it with a metal one. There are a couple of ways the wood doors can be torn up. One is slamming the door with something in it so the window frame is bent out. It breaks the glue joints, especially in the window frame.
The second I know about is your plane may have been a part of a fast approach and flair to land screw up.
There used to be a rumor that if you landed fast in a Taylorcraft and both the pilot and passenger pushed the doors open at the same time, the plane would slow and flare in one smooth motion. OK, in theory (and based on what some folks have told me who tried it) it works. Kind of STUPID, but it works....for a while.
Eventually the fuselage hinge fittings will crack the A pillar and the door hinge fittings will pull out of the wood. The door ends up flipped back, tearing up the fuselage and wing fabric, hitting the stab, and damaging the top tail wire. The door, upper Starboard tail wire and Starboard stab were replaced and the fabric repaired on my plane. No explanations for the damage, but you tell ME what else would cause that combination of damage.
Doing this bone head stunt could easily get you killed and WILL eventually damage your plane. DON'T DO IT.
When I repainted my 41 and replaced the cockpit interior I found a crack in the A pillar on the pilots side at the top hinge (an OLD crack) and multiple cracks in the wood joints of the door. The passenger door was MUCH newer. The hinge screw holes were also in bad shape on the pilots side.
I really don't think I am just suspicious.
Hank