Roger wrote:
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.


I think you're making a wrong assumption. Look at the door, the hinges, and
the latches. There's nothing strong enough to be considered "structural".
The door frame flexes a bit. When you have the door latched securely, first,
the gap remains small. If the door frame flexes a bit, while the door is
open, there's little hope of getting the door to shut as securely.

--- Jay


--

Jay Masino "Home is where the critters are"
http://www.JayMasino.com
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