Door latch ideas?

[muleyman78]

So I havent decided if I want to cover my doors in skins or make them see thru. Major hold up for see through is the door latch mech being visible. I havent come up with a handle that works and looks good at all points. My 75 year old dad is an ex pilot and will be with me often and he cant reach back that far and reach the latch so I need it more forward in the doors. Anyone have ideas?

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Maule has a new doors latch system to replace their older one that might work well for him (and you).

more detail here and in a couple of other threads linked in the topic:

http://maulepilots.org/forums/viewto...ght=door+latch

Page 2 of the topic has the best photo of the mechanism.

I like the idea and think it would great in a Bearhawk, too.

[John Bickham]

If you haven't seen Paul Mingela's (Alaskabearhawk) kitlog site, you may want to take a look.

http://www.mykitlog.com/users/category.php?user=yeeeha&project=527&category=3583

I stole his cargo door latch idea and tweaked it a bit. My tweaks have yet to be proven by the wife, grandkids, and actual cycles of use!

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Right Paul?

[whee]

I came across those Hendricks door handles a couple years ago when I was looking. They look awesome and I really wanted flush handles that lock but I'm not building a Cessna so there was no way I was going to spend $1500 for 3 door handles. While they aren't exactly what I wanted I'm pretty happy with the Leer topper handles we went with. We built seaplane doors and the handles are mounted bottom center of the door.
s-l500.jpg

[Chris In Milwaukee]

There was a Moose at OSH last year that used RV door latches. Super slick and flush. Moose doors are slab, though, not curved. So easier to use in that application. But seaplane doors like whee described might work out. Whee’s latches would probably seal out weather better in that orientation.

[S Lathrop]

Here is what I did. This is the right side on a 4 place. The key locks the lever from sliding forward.

On the door, there is a tube welded that is concentric with the hole for the plunger to pass through. That disk on the plunger is for a spring. I use a washer and safety wire to keep the spring and washer inside the tube. The plunger is the far left end of the rod. The rod is held with a spring lock pin and safety wire.