Some very rough work on the door. This has proved to be a real challenge in that the factory drawings were inaccurate in the cockpit area so the whole sim is an inch too long. I have managed to "make" the door latch stretch but the proportions look a little off..never mind.
The real door is quite a work of art, very thin and strong and with a beautiful piano hinge base that pivots the whole thing out. It also fits snuggly into a designed recess, which was beyond me whilst using a wooden frame and plastic skin. It took me a wasted wooden blank, a small sheet of ali and about an hour to work out I was NEVER going to get it made like it really is!! So I settled on an "outside" fit of the skin, along the edge of the door "hole" in the sim and will use two or three ordinary door hinges. I wanted the door to "look" thin from the inside of the cockpit, so I made it thick enough to be strong but then made an inner skin which makes the whole thing LOOK thin when viewed from each side (and also gave me a useful cavity to hide all my dodgy joins, crossbraces and gluing!!)
I also found that to "look" square, the thing actually had to be made "out of plum" which was REALLY annoying until the outside skin went on and then it all LOOKED square...amazing and I can't explain it...just don't put a set square near it!!
So....The door itself, outside view.
And inside.
The Door latch, now attached to the top spar and complete except for fitting the aft latch claw and guide. The latch claw is made but the guide is this weekend's problem (hopefully).
The way it works..pivot point in the centre and rotates away, retracting the claw.
More to come when painted and attached.