Interesting door mod

[Bob Mac]

I should say here that Steve Pierce has spent way too much of his time trying to coach me on how to post photo's. But my brain is too slow even for him. But I DO know how to send trhem by e-mail as i have done for a few friends here oin the web site. Any of them who might be looking in has my permission to post them. Or, if you'll trust me with your email address I send them directly. If you want you can send me a PM.
Anyway, here's a summary as it applies to us.
Glass goes on outside of door in , as you quickly saw would help, 2 pieces. We make what you could call an upper and lower picture frame from 1 inch wide aluminum strips with mitered corners. This frame is screwed through the plastic into the door structure. The bottom of the upper frame and the top of the lower frame are, of course the same piece. WE have sometimes painted the visible parts of the door structure to match the trim of the airplane if appropriate.
We have used both plexiglass and lexan. Lexan is easier to work with but does scratch more easily. I am probably slightly more positive about plexiglass but not necessarily negative about lexan. Since my current project will always be hangared I'll probably use lexan.
Hope this helps!
Bob
By-the-way, the guy who taught me how to do this is from PA!!

[Stephen]

Stephen, or Bob,

This does seem to be a relatively simple (yet cool) mod. You said you cold bent the lexan. I can see that with the seaplane door but if I use the existing door would I be better off using two separate pieces? How did you secure the lexan in place for your right side door?

First off...always cold bend polycarbonate (Lexan), do no try and heat bend it (I tried once). It is an easier job (if you have access to a brake) to do the door in one piece of plastic. I use a soft pull-rivet to attach the plastic to the frame and placed a soft washer on each side of the plastic.


I love the added visibility.

[Steve Pierce]

I want to do this on my door and the boot cowl. I find it hard to see the right wheel and where I am taxiing in rough stuff.

[Steve Pierce]

Bob Mac sent me these pictures to post.
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[Stephen]

Great pictures...thanks.

The last picture looks like a PA-12. Interesting how much bracing that was put into the door.

[Steve Pierce]

It is a PA-12.I forgot to label them. Some of them were fabric covered and some metal covered I believe.

[Bob Mac]

1946 pa-12

[dplunkt]

Thanks Steve/Bob for posting those. You did the passenger door too, that's great. Bob, you say someone in PA taught you how to do that. Can you share the process? It looks like you stripped the door down to the frame but, if there are tips or pitfalls in doing this I'd like to hear about them.
thanks,
Dan

[Bob Mac]

Actually, it is pretty straightforward. Just the normal care and avoiding oversize holes, etc. The hardest part is (as it always is for me) cutting the plexiglass or lexan. To me the most important part of "learning" was understanding that it can be done. No structural changes are involved and the procedures followed are all elementary.
Bob

[petez]

Bob you know Ron has a way of making hard jobs look easy. We are real lucky to have these 2 as friends. Pete