WANTED - prewar aluminum doors - complete

[SwickT80]

Currently looking for a set of prewar aluminum doors with door handles and all for a custom build. Glass not necessary. Midwest preferred but willing to ship if needed.

-Jeff

[3Dreaming]

To the best on my knowledge they didn't make a pre war aluminum door. The were either a "P" shaped rolled steel or wood for the 1941 Deluxe.

[Hank Jarrett]

Didn't notice up front you said "Pre-war". Master Baker is correct that there were no aluminum doors before the war. There WERE "P" tube steel "tube" doors and also wood doors prior to the war. What is really important is to find out if your FUSELAGE is pre or post war. LOTS of planes had the fuselage swapped out and even if you have a pre war plane if it has a post war fuselage you will need sheet aluminum doors. The doors go with the year of the FUSELAGE, not the year of the plane!
I guess if you were a REAL glutton for pain you could modify the wood ot "P" tube drawings to build a door to fit the late fuselages, but I wouldn't suggest it unless i REALLY learned to hate you. Building a door from scratch for the wrong fuselage is more pain than I would wish on anyone.
Can you post photos of the door opening? We may be able to tell from that. If you already HAVE damaged post war aluminum doors the question is already answered.

Hank

[Ragwing nut]

To the best on my knowledge they didn't make a pre war aluminum door. The were either a "P" shaped rolled steel or wood for the 1941 Deluxe.

I thought the "A" had an aluminum door. I have had one in the past.

[Hank Jarrett]

This is a 41 wood door. I have the factory drawing ifs you are either a master cabinet maker or a glutton for punishment.

Hank

[Hank Jarrett]

This is a pre war "tube" door and they were used on some early 1945 planes (like mine).

Hank

[Hank Jarrett]

And finally, some of the post war sheet metal door.

[3Dreaming]

I thought the "A" had an aluminum door. I have had one in the past.

Mike, as you know anything is possible with Taylorcraft. I don't think our A has an aluminum door.

[SwickT80]

Picture of sister ship is below in attachments. My end build should look like this one exactly and if I'm correct, it's a pre war fuselage. Which door type is being used? All I can see is that the window is hinged from the top.

[Hank Jarrett]

That looks like a pre-war frame but that is a custom door with a hinge to allow the door to be jettisoned. It "looks" like it might be a steel "P" tube door or a wood one, and yes, it is a top hinge like the wood and "P" tube doors. You can just see the release mechanism along the front edge of the door.

Hank

[SwickT80]

Mine will hopefully do aerobatics at one point, so the jettison hinge part will be needed. Looks like I'll move forward to a steel "P" tube design. Does anyone have concepts or pictures of this quick release hinge and a door being fabricated with a window that opens?
-Jeff

[Hank Jarrett]

I have drawings and photos of each type door, but you will actually be designing a whole new door using the same techniques to custom fit your openings. To start, I would STRONGLY recommend NOT building the wood door! It is a royal pain. Probably the NICEST door, but not something that can be built by less than a very good cabinet maker (I think you have already seen that).

I think you are on the right path with the "P" tube door, but if you are building from "scratch" there is no reason not to go to small steel tube and flat strip welded together. Easier to make and work with since you don't have to roll the "P" stock. Your first step is to build the fuselage door frame. The doors need to be custom fit to the frame so you need the frame to use as a fixture for the "P" tubes. I have attached four photos of a restored door. I am pretty sure I have larger photos in the files but I can't post them on the site because of the size. I can get detail pictures of the window hinges and window frames as well as the latches.

I need to look around for photos of the door jettison system but it is pretty simple (a good thing for emergency systems!) All it really consists of is a handle that is held in the upper forward corner of the door frame with some Velcro (out of the way so you don't accidentally pull it but easy to get to in a "weird" G load condition. There is a cable that runs through the door frame edge and down the front on the door to above the top hinge. The two bolts and nuts of the hinge system are replaced with wires attached to the cable. When you pull the handle, it pulls the cable and pulls the wires up and out out of the hinges. The slip stream will do the rest. Air gets under the front edge and the door fly's off and out (probably hitting the fuselage and tail on it's way off, which is why you DON'T want to pull the handle by accident!) The most important thing is to KEEP IT SIMPLE and RELIABLE! Second is to cover the handle with something easy to get off so it doesn't get pulled by accident. On hte ground it is very embarrassing when your door falls off the plane. In flight you were planning to get out, but the door could damage the tail making the plane unflyable! If I didn't have a parachute I would LOCK the hinge pins in place preventing loss of the doors!

[Hank Jarrett]

If you like the sheet metal doors you could skin the tube door with thin aluminum skin held on with PK screws. I have seen this done and the owner could take the PK screws out and put a piece of 1/8" (I think) Plexi on for a really nice Patrol Door. Makes the down visibility really spectacular!

[SwickT80]

Hank,
Thanks. Do look around for the door jettison system, as that and the doors are getting done this coming month. Say, are you fond of that blue and greenish yellow door you posted?
-Jeff

[astjp2]

Decathalon has jettison doors, It is a bell crank that pulls the pins from the hinges via a handle with an over-center to prevent the handle from accidentally popping the door off. The P-tube is available for custom doors if you want to make them. The latches are what are hard to find. The company that made them is no longer in business, if you know someone with a CNC mill, they can cut you some out. You will also need someone with a CNC brake and either a laser or water jet to cut and form the sheetmetal parts. I have 1 door that I can get dimensions from that is the p tube style. It would be fun to build a jig to make doors. You could round tube or square tube for an experimental, rivet on a sheetmetal skin and be good to go. Tim