rodsmith
Well-known member
Finally painted my doors so thought I would post some construction pictures. Doors are 3/8", 3 pound divinycell foam with 2 layers of carbon fiber on the exterior and 2 layers of fiberglass on the inside. I spent a lot of time contemplating how to do this and finally realized the only way to get a good fit was to use the airframe as the form. The rear passenger door weights 4 pounds with all hardware and 3 pounds for the baggage door, which I think is a significant savings. If I had a kit with nice premade doors, there is no way I would have gone to the trouble. I don't think these took longer to build than steel frame and aluminum. What took significantly longer for me was the finishing. I lost track of how many iterations of sanding/filling I went through and I still have a few pin holes. Someone with more composite experience would probably have better luck with that. I am very happy with the tight fit to the fuselage and the way they look. The latch for the rear passenger door is Bob's design. I machined an aluminum housing for it since it isn't buried in the structure. Still working on the front doors.
