Has anyone heard of a Cessna 150 with top hinged (gull wing type) doors? Or an STC for this?

Just something to consider that may be relevant, the 162 Skycatcher has doors that swing upwards like you're describing. Problem here is that if the door isn't locked properly, once in flight whammo it can be sucked open and swung upwards violently, shattering the window and making a mess of the door. I saw the aftermath of a couple of these door incidents and decided I liked regular front hinged doors a lot better.

Interesting - never thought about that. It would definitely be something to consider if designing one. The reason I ask is because I'm looking at the possibility of buying one (or something similar: 140, Luscombe, Taylorcraft), but really want to be able to fly with the door open. It seems like the only plane that this can be done in (in a similar price range) would be a J-3. A 150 with a door that could be opened in flight would just be the perfect little plane for buzzing around in, IMO.

I have seen it on other 100 series Cessnas. It is more commonly referred to as a "sky dive door." The few I have seen were extremely ghetto with a strip of piano hinge and some cabinet hardware latch. I'm sure there are some nice ones out there.
A 140 172 180 or any other Cessna flies fine with a door off. I have always just taken the thing off for the one flying day a year I get with no door.

Why not just pull the door off when you want to fly without one? Only takes half a minute...

If you're just looking for something to fly around in with the door open, look at an Ercoupe. They are not a backcountry plane by any stretch of the imagination, but they are cheap, fun, and they fly fine with the canopy open.

Wait! I flew my $1450.00 Ercoupe all over the southern Rockeys and made lots of off field landings. Good little airplane if you don't let the no stall, no spin hurt your macho. It makes a fine apparent rate of closure approach. With the wheel full back and quite a bit of power, it will touch down really slow and really soft any where you want. Dead stick is tricky because it won't slip, doesn't have flaps, and floats well in low ground effect. The low ground effect will get you off quickly, however. If there are obstructions, you need to find a hole or go under the wire.

Back in the early 60s I had a second job at the Palo Alto a/p of running the fuel island - stuffing planes in hangars, then filling, distributing, and lighting the 6 smug pots used as runway landing lights. One evening I saw this airline captain come in late, do a fast taxi to his tie-down, shut down his Ercoupe and quickly depart without tying it down. I went over to tie it down and in/on the rear deck was a short beat up canoe paddle. Next time I saw him I asked him what the paddle was for. A rudder of course - to help slip. Never saw him use it, but did see the scratch marks where it looked like it could have been slid in and out the edge of the cockpit.

Ercoupes are cute, and they are vintage, but that's about it. I've ridden in one that a friend owns, and you couldn't give me one on a bet.

Thanks for all the comments. It sounds like just taking the door off is probably the way to go.

Never flew a C150 door(s) off, but did fairly frequently in my C180s. I never installed the air deflector to run doors off, and I think because of that I would get a buffeting in the cabin that would increase with speed. Kinda like driving the car with a back window down.

A couple of times I wondered if I was gonna blow the side windows out. But, slow down just a few MPH and it quits, so I never worried about it. And, the fun and the view was worth it!

Gump

If you open the window on the other side it helps with the buffeting.

There is no stc for any skydiving door on a cessna. All are field approved. There is a myth that the original Sonomish in flight door is STC approved, It is not. I want to put a jump door on my 180 and it is difficult to find a fed in our area to sign it off, even though there are hundreds of this type of door on cessnas. I have the jump door from my Dads 185 that flew 6000 hrs of jump operations. Can't get a fed in my area to sign it off on my 180.

Charlie Bunch had an STC a while ago. I don't know if it is still available. My 180 had this door back in the 1980s, but it has been removed.

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guida ... ight=bunch

Last summer I took the doors off the Maule.

I never got psychologically fully comfortable with it. It was also loud and a pretty buffetted in there. Nothing wrong with it but not for me.