One of the things I have noticed about the door fiasco is that every time it popped out, after a very brief moment of being startled, your instinct was to aviate. You attention was not on door but on flying the airplane. Speaks volumes about you and your skills. Being 78 years old, we didn't actually have these recurring problems like this. We took the airplane in and they fixed it. That is total BS from that maintenance facility. But that's the kinda help you get these days. I would bill them for aircraft flight time and fuel. Please hold them accountable for that fiasco. I guess the $1000 question is, why didn't that mechanic take it apart and determine what the problem was and fix it the first time? That is very fustrating to see that level of incompetence at a repair facility. I don't care how old the guy sounded. No excuse for that.
Same with car maintenance. It's why I always go to the dealer rather than the cheapskates on the side of the road. Been bitten too many times by independent mechanics to trust them again.
Seems like he knew there was an issue and just didn’t get it fixed correctly AND who ever fixed it originally didn’t know how to fix correct to begin with
Great job Kay and also good job to Max for taking the time and effort to get to the root cause of the problem. Ground personnel and mechanics are essential to safe flying!
Wow - all I know is if I'm aboard an aircraft with a door pop incident I want Kay to be the pilot - cool, calm, collected and navigating, aviating and communicating. Hopefully this is sorted and your aircraft exhibits no further issues with the door.
That is sad, the tower on the last departure said, "Hope the door is good this time" at 19:10. You know it is really bad when the tower recognizes a plane that has a repeating problem as much as this one. Thank you for sharing your trials with the plane and hopefully it gets better from here.
Pops did a fantastic job staying calm and quiet, and letting you do what you do best. You stayed focused and calm and got the plane down like it was just an other landing. Great work by both of you!
"Time To Spare, Go By Air". This Idiom started during the golden age of air travel. Non-pilots see it as a pain in the tush, but the entire experience rewarded your professionalism, patience and matter of fact attitude Kay. Large life lessons like this are so valuable and you took it in stride. The most dramatic example of this occurred when Neal Armstrong was hovering above the moon on manual control and heard "Neal 30 seconds of fuel left!" "Roger." You Kay have the right stuff! 👍👍
I've been wondering why that door had so many fingerprints all over it. Typically passengers have cleaner fingers and don't leave those types of prints. Fifty years as a mechanic and you notice that sort of stuff from experience.
Kay your video footage gets better all the time! Always a joy to watch your stuff. There should be documentation on past repairs and whether or not it was signed off by an A&P. I would actually be concerned on what other shortcuts or wrong parts were used in the past.
Aviate, navigate, communicate: you did it!!! I would have peed my pants! Great video and Pops didn’t even say what he was thinking the second time! lol!
Not doubt that door was very frustrating for you and Pops and gave Pops heart a work out. But the plus for your viewers was we got to see you so competently handle the aircraft and we got heaps of take-offs and landings. For would-be pilots your videos are practical tutorials. Well done.
You would think they would take the whole door apart after the second failure, if not the FIRST. I'm thinking that whoever rigged that with the wrong parts owes you big time.
Thanks for the video! This must have been SO frustrating! I had a problem with my Mooney door latch one time. It was out of adjustment and it took a few times to get it right again. How annoying that something was screwed up by a mechanic. I guess something slid or wore just far enough that it started letting loose? This was great!
I came by your channel watching another regarding your engine/magneto issue. Your calm, confident and competent manner sold me on finding this channel. I am so impressed with your skills and abilities. I truly appreciate the way you communicate - sorry - Aviate, Navigate and Communicate!
It was nice to see your adventures with the door. I'm sure it was frustrating but you and dad seemed to take it all in stride. Thanks for the video! Cheers! Bob F.
Good Afternoon. Love your vides and I'm sorry you and Pop's got stuck in St. Louis. I live 15 min away from that airport and would have loved to mee you and Pop's. I'm so glad they were able to get you fixed and back home safely. I am so impressed with the way you both handled the door opening. You both was cool as could be, I will be flying commercially to Corpus Christi next Wednesday I hope that no doors pop open. haha. Love your videos and have learned so much watching them. Safe Travels. Bob
Good that you got it fixed by a proper mechanic. Pretty obvious when the latch was taken off that it had been bodged by a previous owner. Time to replace the latch with a new authentic part?
Whew - well that was something huh?? People who work on aircraft should NEVER use unauthorized parts NEVER! IMHO NEVER! Prayers, with your narration before i watched, i knew the ending was gonna be good :) You guys are like family to me.... Thanks for sharing. From SE Texas Orange > Bear ❤💯🙏
You could tell that Pops wasn’t happy about the third or fourth time. So glad you guys are okay, and happy to see you’ve returned to TX. Stay safe, cya!
Sorry about your experience in my hometown. I promise it's not always that bad. On the good side, you got to see a Cards game, so there's that. Glad you made it home safely.
Hi Kay, I appreciate your successful flight driving and landing in St. Louis despite the door failure in the plane. Kay, You proved that you are a successful pilot
So yeah. My adventure was a little different. I fly a 74 Cherokee 180. I landed at an airport just for grins but wanted to get some water. I reached up to open the top latch and as I turned it the handle came off in my hand. That white plastic shaft broke off IN the handle. I was locking the plane. I had pliers, but there was nothing to grab on to. There was no one around to get me out. I took off, headed to my home airport with the hope someone was there to open the door. At my first position report I requested, "if anyone is on the freq could you meet me at the pumps". I repeated that for all my position reports. There was a gentleman taxiing to take off. He stopped and came over and got my out. A week later I had the part and fixed the door. Fun Times.
Kay, I have had several door "pops" in my two Bonanzas, both very low time airframes, over 15 years of ownership. Never had a door pop in 16 years of C182 and C210. Closing the door, especially on a Bonanza, is critical (Bonanzas don't have a manual top lock). I once had a door pop carrying the Repub nominee for the Luit. Governor Candidate of California, lost some maps, but as you know a door pop is just noisy, a bit drafty but really doesn't change the handling aspect of the aircraft. When I bought a new to me V35B and this was after a comprehensive pre buy, I flew it home from Madera, Ca to Hurricane, Ut, I had a door pop about 20 minutes after departing Madera as I was already at 11,500 feet so I continued on. When I was near TPH (AGL was 6,000' at the time) I landed to shut the door. 15 minutes after departure it popped again. Since I was an hour from home, I just continued on like I was flying a Stearman. Yeah it's inconvenient and a pain in the you know where, it is not a big deal, just continue to fly the airplane. You did great, just like a pro!!! Oh, I forgot you are a pro. If a door pops, as in your bird, the door opens 2-3 inchs and "holds in position." It has little to no effect on handling as you again demonstrated. Door pops have killed pilots because they get too distracted and forget to fly the airplane. Maybe if you could fly your Seneca at 70 kts in reverse it could be disconcerting, but you don't have prop reverse, like an old DC-6 or Connie. Oh, my issue was a poorly adjusted top latch. Fixed in a half hour by my A&P, IA.
I live and work just miles from this airport. It was fun to see you land there with the muddy Mississippi in the background. If you ever make it back, there is nearby town called Fairmont City, IL with some great, authentic Mexican restaurants including our family’s restaurant called Koke’s Tavern. Check us out the next time you come to St. Louis/Metro East in Illinois.
I agree. St. Louis downtown isn't what it used to be even with the new soccer team and updated Gateway Arch museum. It's sad that there are barely any riverboats along the Riverfront these days. I've driven all around the Parks Airport. I work for a company driving Union Pacific Railroad crews around. So, I've spent much time between Dupo, IL, and the A&S yard.
Oh come on, it’s not that bad. It is just like any other big city. Good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods. But St. Louisans are the friendliest, most welcoming people around.
Great pops...let Kay handle the airplane. What appears to be a basic door issue that takes so long to resolve does not give a lot of confidence in this shop. Nice work Kay having to deal with this issue.
Kay. It was great meeting you and Pops at EAA. I'm sure you don't remember me but I was the guy that had the same thing happen in a C152 many years back. Anyway, love your videos and again great meeting you and Pops.
Hi Kay I am a former A&P and it is a common occurrence on Piper doors that the top latches fail in time. Just another notice from my point of view have someone look at your Port Engine Exhaust it seems loose in one of the outside video's you had on that flight Regards Craig
Wow what’s an aventure with this little thing you and your dad were so patient. Hope you can soon enjoy together another fly and us with you both. And of course can’t await to see you with friends and family can have a wonderful flight too. We sure be happy to see the flight and your discover on your other Channel.
St. Louis gets a lot of nasty nasty weather. Nice weather for the flight home though, finally. Well at least your getting a lot of practice on take offs and landings in St. Louis. God Bless!!!
looks like we crossed paths the past few days. my nephew & i flew OUN to 3GV to see the Royals/Redsocks on 7 Aug. On 8 Aug, we flew 3GV to CPS late morning due to low ceilings (probably your thunderstorms). got into CPS ~1pm CST (Grumman AA-5 red fuselage white wings). We went to see the Cardinals play the Rays. left late morning 9 Aug, from CPS to 3M0 to eat @ Gastons White River Resort then back to OUN yesterday afternoon.
I’ve noticed all your flights, your plane rocks left to right, despite it being made to drive with one hand you should try keeping both hands on the tiller
This issue sounds like my car. The problem I diagnosed my self on the 1st trip to Ford ended up being the problem the 3rd and final time. So it had to be towed to Ford twice because they didn’t fix the problem the first time.
It begs the questions - did the same repair facility/A&P "fix" the door each time it failed. and did they charge you each time they failed to actually fix it?
Common problem w/ Piper products.. Barons to (I had it happen in a BE-58) Make sure as PIC YOU are the only one operating the door.. (per the placard !!) The door popping open in unpressurized aircraft is a non event especially w/ headsets on.. a little noisy but that's all.. Take a bird thru the windshield ? Get the door open asap !!
As one of my mechanic school instructors would say, some "shade tree" mechanic did some cheap work on that latch. I wonder why he didn't catch it the first time.
Have to wonder if the door has gotten "Tweaked" a little with those latch failures. May be chasing ghosts in the long term and need to start looking for a straight door.
Thanks Kay for your amazing videos, safety comes first. You got that one right! Now we have to crack the new case of the voepass atr72 that crashed near sao Paulo brasil. Probably stalled out due to excessive icing in cloud ☁️
