On Wed, 31 May 2006 07:21:50 -0500, (Jay Masino)
wrote:

Roger wrote:
Just remember that door is a structural member in the Arrow, unlike
the Cessna.


The door opening *frame* may be a structural member, but not the door itself.
I doubt there's any significant cockpit strength difference when the door is
latched vs. unlatched.

Consider this.
Open the door in level flight. Now close the door in level flight. It
won't close. Why? If you look, the door shape no longer matches that
of the opening. As I recall on the Cherokee 180 the mismatch was on
the order of half an inch. That means the fuselage flexed about a half
an inch. The door was providing additional, structural strength
albeit it's not critical.

On a Bonanza the mismatch is even more. It's enough that you are not
going to close that door in level flight or without unloading the
airframe which can be done but I doubt it'd be considered a "normal"
maneuver.

On both planes the door is considered part of the structure. It's
just not a critical part of the structure.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com


--- Jay