Doors & Airframe

ATA Chapter 52/53 — N720AK Systems Reference

Overview

N720AK has two forward-opening gull-wing doors (pilot and co-pilot) and a rear baggage door. The doors use aftermarket latches and hardware from Planearound, with Aerosport low-profile exterior handles. The windshield and windows are Cee Bailey replacements.

Doors

Components

Doors In Flight, and the Forced-Landing Question

Source quality caveat: what follows is first-hand accounts and shop opinion from VansAirForce, not engineering test data. It is the type-specific input that the generic emergency literature lacks, and it is better than a bare assertion, but it is not a Van’s service letter.

An RV-10 door opened in flight will probably leave

The consistent report across the RV-10 community is that a door which comes open in flight separates rather than trailing a few inches ajar the way a Bonanza’s side door does:

There have been numerous examples of RV-10 doors opening and separating in flight (pre-safety latch). I don’t know anyone who has opened a door in flight and had it remain attached. — David Halmos (RV-8, RV-10), RV10 doors and ditching

A departed door can strike the horizontal stabilizer. Jesse Saint of Saint Aviation, who did the repair:

There was one case that I know of that opened in level/cruise flight that came off and hit the HS, fortunately not jamming the elevator. I did the repair on this plane, and the whole tailcone was bent due to the impact of the door on the HS.

A second builder reports the same outcome independently (“one -10 that had its door hit the HS and twist the entire tail cone”). A third case — a South African RV-10 that lost its door at 8,500 ft — did no empennage damage at all, so the strike is likely but not certain. The feared outcome is not the lost door; it is a jammed elevator.

Angle of attack matters more than speed

The most useful mechanism in the discussion, from Jesse Saint:

I think the angle of attack is more the issue than the speed. At lower speeds the door would be less likely to rip off if level. At high angle of attack (takeoff-ish), the relative wind is much more likely to rip the door off, in which case it would clear the tail based on my knowledge of doors that have come off.

So the two risks trade against each other: slow and level keeps the door on but makes a departure more likely to hit the tail; nose-high makes departure more likely but throws the door clear.

“Unlatched” is not a stable state on this airframe

This is the finding that matters most for the forced-landing checklists. Stowell’s advice — unlatch before touchdown so a deformed fuselage cannot jam the door over your only exit — assumes an unlatched door stays where you put it. On an RV-10 it may not. In the 2013 South African case the door was never fully latched, held only by the stock Van’s safety latch through taxi, takeoff and a climb from 4,000 to 8,500 ft — and then flew open and departed. The owner’s conclusion:

the standard safety latch clearly will not hold the door

Jesse Saint calls the same part “a piece of junk” and reports a case where it was correctly installed and still did not keep the door closed.

For a ditching, the type experts disagree

Scott McDaniels — 21 years in Van’s Aircraft’s engineering prototype shop, A&P, DAR — argues for leaving them shut, on a ground nobody else raises:

If I was forced to make a water landing … there is no way I would jettison the doors in an RV-10 before touch down. Have you ever been slapped in the face by water at 60+ MPH? … If you land in water, you are going to have a very short amount of time to exit and you need to be at the top of your game and not trying to get over the trauma of having just been smacked silly.

Against that, several RV-10 owners expect the doors to depart on water impact anyway and leave a clear egress path, and note that a fixed-gear airplane will probably flip once the gear hits.

What N720AK does not have

The mitigation the community actually endorses is a secondary retention strap (Saint Aviation’s version runs from the lower forward gear-leg weldment to the door handle; it lets the door open 2–4 inches but keeps it attached, and has been tested accidentally in flight several times without incident).

N720AK has Planearound NEW-180 latches and Planearound door pins — a primary latch upgrade, which addresses the door coming open in the first place. It has no secondary retention.

The forced-landing checklists still say UNLATCH — see plans/emergency-strategies-checklist-gaps.md for why that was not changed on the strength of forum evidence.

Door Operation

Windshield & Windows

• Material: Aircraft-grade acrylic (ASTM 4082), 0.250“ thickness for side glass
• Tint: Available in light gray, light green, or clear (all FAA-approved for night flight)
• Status: Cee Bailey’s was acquired by LP Aero Plastics in June 2025. Replacement parts available from LP Aero (sales@lpaero.com, 724-744-4448).
• VAF thread: Cee Bailey’s RV-10 Products

Interior

Aerosport Products

N720AK uses a comprehensive set of Aerosport Products interior components:

Interior Paint

Sherwin Williams Jetflex.

Seats & Restraints

Sun Visor Installation (TODO — Not Yet Installed)

Kit: Rosen R1930001 (Doc 9051-0193-001, Rev A) Source: Aircraft Spruce P/N 13-05695 (Order #14047456, 2020-07-13, $466)

Hardware included:

• 4x #10-32 locknut (1032NLINS BLK)
• 4x #10-32 x 3/4“ truss head screw (AN526C1032R12)
• 4x #10 washer (AS-10)
• 5/32“ and 9/64“ hex keys (for tension adjustment)

Installation summary:

1. Position visor so top mounting hole is level with upper edge of side window
2. Mounting hole centers 7/8“ from rear edge of door frame
3. Drill #30 pilot hole, then expand to #12
4. Insert truss head screws from outside door channel
5. Mount visor base over screws, secure with washers and locknuts
6. Torque to 25 lb-in
7. Optional: RTV sealant around screw heads for moisture seal
8. Adjust pivot tension with hex keys if needed (factory preset)
9. Repeat for passenger side

Continued airworthiness: Periodically clean lenses (soft cloth, mild soap, or aviation windscreen cleaner — no abrasives). Periodically adjust pivot tensions.

Fairings & External Hardware

Heater & Ventilation

Vents: 4 Aerosport AeroVents in the overhead console + 2 SteinAir AV-1.25B eyeball vents in the instrument panel = 6 total.

Wingtip Attachment

Wingtips attach via piano hinge modification — they can be removed entirely for maintenance access to wing internals, lights, and pitot plumbing. See Lighting for wingtip light details.

Inspection & Maintenance

References

• Aerosport RV-10 Low-Profile Handle Installation (Rev 3)
• Aerosport RV-10 Interior Panels Installation
• Crow Harness Installation Instructions
• Crow Safety Gear Catalog
• RVBits Intersection Fairing Installation Manual
• Rosen Sunvisor RV-10 Installation Instructions (Kit R1930001)
• Aerosport Center Arm Rest / Quad Arm Rest Installation
• Aerosport Carpet Installation
• Aerosport Rear Air Vent Installation
• Aerosport NACA Vent Controller Adjustments
• Aerosport Interior Door Handle Installation
• Aerosport Baggage Door Installation
• Planearound 180° Door Latch Installation
• Planearound Angled Pins & Guides
• MotoPOD RV-10 Installation Manual — pod never produced
• MotoPOD RV-10 Hardpoint Installation Manual — hardpoints installed during build