Guys, I'm having a hard time coming up with a door latch system for the seaplane doors on my Bearhawk. I want the door to latch at the front and rear and be able to lock from the outside. Looking at pictures of doors on Cubs it appears they use handles off pickup toppers. Got any ideas for a latch system and/or a different handle?

This is basically the idea that I have except the latch pins will be front and rear not bottom and rear.

Whee

Been around long enough to know that most Cessna planes can be unlocked with almost anything. Gas cap keys especially. My old Scout II key and my Toyota key all worked on most Cessna locks.
At one time I was going to install some better locks using tubular keys on my 170.
My two best and most experienced Mechanics and IAs told me DON'T!

Reason - It is much easier and - in the long run - cheaper - to buy new radios than it is repair the fuselage door frame and find a good used door. Then have the door painted to match!

Just my 2c

Chris C

Whee,

I can't help much on types of latches, but as to the location of the latches, I'd locate them at the front and bottom of the door. Would ensure tighter closure and easier access by pilot.

Take a look at the Scout latches.....they're a bit more sophisticated than the Cubs but bear in mind a pocket knife will get anyone inside your plane in a minute if they want in bad enough.

Forget about locking latches and make sure your CCW permit is current......

MTV

Whee, the inside front door latch handle on mine has an additional "cam-over" position that you cannot access from the outside latch. You can open and close the door with the outside latch, but once the inside lever has been cammed over the outside latch won't do anything to the door, which effectively locks it. When I secure my plane, I shut the front door from the outside, then walk over and reach in from the rear door to cam-over the front handle, and then I lock the rear door from the outside. The only locks I have on the plane are on the rear door and the baggage door.

Don't know if that'll help you or not.

Whee,
Go find someone nearby with a RANS S7 (possibly others too). They should have exactly the type of handle system you are wanting. It would be very easy to install some type of locking mechanism. Something along the lines of a file cabinet or tool box lock. Baisaclly a metal arm that either catches a slot or stops the handle from moving. Hard to explain but I can easily envision it.

I somewhat agree with you guys are saying about not locking the plane. The Luscombe didn't have locks and we didn't have any trouble but there were times where locking the plane would have made me feel better even knowing they were only keeping honest people honest.

The "cam-over" idea is a good one. The TR6 I had in high school had that kind of lock...but then again I never locked it because it was a convertible. Same idea applies to locking a fabric airplane but I still want the option.

I'll google the scout and S7 doors to see what I can find.

Thanks guys.

I don't have a CCW. My wife, for whatever reason, will only let me own revolvers and I'm just not comfortable carrying a handgun with no safety. Since I'm not willing to carry I don't even bother buying.

Here's my version of the door lock on the Trimmer seaplane door stc.
Unlocked

Locked

whee wrote:I don't have a CCW. My wife, for whatever reason, will only let me own revolvers and I'm just not comfortable carrying a handgun with no safety. Since I'm not willing to carry I don't even bother buying.

Off topic, but wheel guns are my favorite guns. I haven't seen one of mine jam and you can leave them loaded all the time without fear of wearing out springs. I would carry but I'm on and off federal installations nearly every day so I don't. Our holsters hold the hammer in the uncocked position. Except my wife's slip holster, which covers the trigger well on her hammerless LCR. The likelihood of them going off is effectively zero.



Mark, I like your door lock solution. That's good thinking!

Whee that photo in your original post is my plane. Latch on bottom is designed because it's a swing up seaplane door. Latch front instead of bottom would not hold door into frame as tight.

Notice key locks on handles. I like ability to lock, to easy in some instances when your around people & leave plane to have headsets, D1 or something in baggage to dissappear.

CamTom12 wrote:Our holsters hold the hammer in the uncocked position. Except my wife's slip holster, which covers the trigger well on her hammerless LCR. The likelihood of them going off is effectively zero.

Think I need to see a pic

Mark, I like your solution. Thanks for the pics.

Flyboy_AK wrote:Whee that photo in your original post is my plane. Latch on bottom is designed because it's a swing up seaplane door. Latch front instead of bottom would not hold door into frame as tight.

Notice key locks on handles. I like ability to lock, to easy in some instances when your around people & leave plane to have headsets, D1 or something in baggage to dissappear.

My doors swing up also but my latches at the front and rear will be closer to the bottom of the door so it will hold the door closed nice and tight. The handles you used provide the functionality that I want just not the right look.

whee wrote:

CamTom12 wrote:Our holsters hold the hammer in the uncocked position. Except my wife's slip holster, which covers the trigger well on her hammerless LCR. The likelihood of them going off is effectively zero.

Think I need to see a pic

Whee, here's my wife's slip holster. It fits nicely into a larger pocket as well. I'll stick it in my jacket sometimes.


I have another holster for my work pistol (a semi-auto beretta) that also kind of matches this description. It holds over the hammer with a leather flap that snaps down. Has to be unsnapped to unholster the gun. It goes on your belt but is very low profile and would be pretty concealed with an untucked shirt. The pistol is in the arms room and the holster is buried in a deployment tough box in the garage, so no pics.

But here's my favorite rig:

It's not really set up for concealed. But I don't carry often because of how annoying it would be to run by the house and drop-off / pick-up my gun every time I had to go on / off post. It was great for hiking dry trails up north though. In wetter territory I'd carry my 1911 on an Alaskan chest rig.

I had one for my old Spesco .38 revolver that was a little more suited to daily carrying, but it got torn up on a snowmachine trip a while back. It was in a friend's bag that he didn't secure well enough to the back of his sled. Got pulled under the tunnel and chewed through by the track. My holster was a casualty. It held over the hammer as well.

What kind of wheel gun might you look at if you could holster it safely? I might could help you find a holster you could be comfortable with. Anyways, sorry for the derail.

Back on the target (so to speak). Back when I was instructing and working part time at the FBO in Laramie, I carried 4 keys that would open every single airplane on the airport except a King Air, which had a better lock. But even the higher priced singles had $1.98 locks that one of those 4 keys would open.

But locks will discourage the casual thief who is more likely to go for the unlocked door, whether it's an airplane, a car, or a house. I'd be willing to bet that if I were to walk down the tie-down line in front of the terminal at my home drome, Greeley-Weld, on any busy Saturday morning when all the $100 hamburger patrons have flown in, I'd likely find 90% unlocked. When the issue is "what can I grab in 10 seconds?", if it takes 20 seconds to open the door, there are plenty of doors that are unlocked and take no time at all to open.

So I had my Cessna's locks changed to simple barrel-type, although I recognize that a large can opener could open the airplane. But at least not everyone and his brother with a few cabinet keys can easily open the doors. I considered whether to install Medeco locks--they're super high security, although not 100% impenetrable. But it occurred to me that putting high security locks on it might make someone believe that there's stuff in there that is more valuable than in the average airplane. So instead, I stuck with the barrel locks and also have a throttle lock, which I install when tied down to discourage an actual airplane thief.

If I had a fabric airplane, I'd likely have locks on it, too, although it's even easier to get into than an aluminum airplane. Same reasoning--the ones that are unlocked are a better thievery target than a locked airplane.

Cary

Check out the Southco H3. It is a locking, low profile, multi-point latch that can operate push/pull rods. Their stuff can be a little pricey, but it looks nice and is well made.

Those Southco latches look nice but it does not appear they will work with an inside latch; how do you stow the handle when you inside.