Need new door lock cylinder

[Seth1001]

Hey fellas,

My lock cylinder keep vibrating into undesirable positions when I'm flying. Last time I got trapped in the plane I had to take off the door panel and disassemble the lock mechanism by hand. Now my plane is lockless. Is there an adjustment I can make to solve that issue or do I just need to buy a new cylinder? Where could I get one? Is it generic enough to just get a locksmith to install a new one for me? It's for a '77 J model if that makes a difference.

[Fly Boomer]

14 minutes ago, Seth1001 said:

Hey fellas,

My lock cylinder keep vibrating into undesirable positions when I'm flying. Last time I got trapped in the plane I had to take off the door panel and disassemble the lock mechanism by hand. Now my plane is lockless. Is there an adjustment I can make to solve that issue or do I just need to buy a new cylinder? Where could I get one? Is it generic enough to just get a locksmith to install a new one for me? It's for a '77 J model if that makes a difference.

Some like the Medeco locks (aircraftsecurity.com).

[kortopates]

The original locks are a chicago cabinet lock.
As pointed out, this may be a good opportunity to install a much more secure lock.


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[Oscar Avalle]

Some like the Medeco locks (aircraftsecurity.com).

I have one and they are great


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[DonMuncy]

There are two lines of thinking on better door locks. First, if you have good locks, the thief will go to the next plane that is easier to break into. Second, if you have good locks, the thief will do far more damage breaking into your plane than the value of what he steals.

[A64Pilot]

25 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

There are two lines of thinking on better door locks. First, if you have good locks, the thief will go to the next plane that is easier to break into. Second, if you have good locks, the thief will do far more damage breaking into your plane than the value of what he steals.

Why I never lock my Miata, because they will cut the top, unfortunately I’ve heard of cut tops on unlocked cars.

I’ve not tried of course but bet you could pop the door on any GA airplane with a simple short flat crow bar.

I also think ANY aircraft lock can be defeated with a large screwdriver, knock the screwdriver in the key hole and rotate the whole mechanism.

In the Caribbean dinghy motors are often stolen, so some purchased expensive locking covers that covered the clamp handles, really darn near impervious the good ones were built from thick stainless steel.

The thrives responded by using a Sawsall and cutting out a chunk of the transom, takes I’m told less than a minute, and of course destroys the dinghy.

I peeled my 20HP sticker off and put on a 6HP sticker, a 6 wasn’t worth stealing, they wanted 15 and 20’s as those were in demand

If I had expensive new avionics I’d at least cover the panel with a towel, which also would help keep them cool and prevent UV damage, besides hiding them.

I think thrives “shop” for what they can get the most money for.

I’ve sort of jokingly said get a picture of an old Narco panel and put over your’s. But you know as I think most thefts happen in dim light like at night, it might work?

[Pinecone]

21 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

There are two lines of thinking on better door locks. First, if you have good locks, the thief will go to the next plane that is easier to break into. Second, if you have good locks, the thief will do far more damage breaking into your plane than the value of what he steals.

Just like owning a convertible.  Lock it, and they may cut the top.  

[DCarlton]

I used the ones from Spruce that came with my ignition switch that was installed years ago, but would go with Medeco next time.  Seems like I remember the Spruce ones taking some bending and grinding on the locking tab to get them to work right (but they're cheaper).  

[DonMuncy]

Medeco locks are very good and very secure (hard to pick), but if you ever need a key made, it is a real headache. You have to go back to medeco, and they are expensive.

[Marc_B]

I got the medeco from the source listed  above. I ordered 2 extra keys when I ordered so I’d have extra on hand. Some also talk about using aluminum tape to tape a spare key inside the battery access panel. Then worst case you can open with a screwdriver and get to the spare. I’ve been lazy and haven’t felt a huge need to do that. But I do like the ability to drop off an extra key to my shop so they can get into the aircraft and I don’t have to track them down to go fly. 
 

[kortopates]

Medeco locks can be purchased through any Medeco locksmith dealer. Once you're registered through them, you can purchase new keys anytime for very reasonable cost.

Sure, its much more expensive to do this via shipping to the above company that offers an STC approval for installation. But most IA's won't consider this a major alteration and therefore I am sure would be willing to work with you and a local dealer to get and install the locks with you doing the gopher work. Even my local locksmith bent the tang that turns on the lock to my spec to customize the lock to properly fit the baggage door and cockpit locking mechanism at modest cost or no extra cost. I was expecting to do that myself but they did it simplifying the install.   

[DonMuncy]

2 hours ago, kortopates said:

... you can purchase new keys anytime for very reasonable cost.

 

Is that reasonable in aviation terms or real life terms? 

It has been a long time sonce I dealt with Medeco, but my memory was they were quite expensive. Sorry for maligning Medeco if I was wrong.

Don 

[kortopates]

34 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

Is that reasonable in aviation terms or real life terms? 

It has been a long time sonce I dealt with Medeco, but my memory was they were quite expensive. Sorry for maligning Medeco if I was wrong.

Don 

You didn't malign Medeco!

If you got yours from aircraftsecurity.com then I'd expect you paid in aviation units. But going directly to local locksmith dealer, I only paid a fraction of that. Just saying these don't really take an STC to install and widely available locally. But it does take an A&P to do minor alteration too.

[Seth1001]

Thanks for the input everyone. I ended up ordering just the cabin door lock with one extra key from Medeco. It cost about $150 bucks. Maybe a little expensive but compared to most costs for plane stuff...just a drop in the bucket. We'll see how difficult it is to install.

[trevttu76]

It's amazing how true the term "project creep" is when you get into something.  I am re-doing my interior.  The door lock was staring me in the face this weekend and I was wondering if I should replace it while the panel is off.   What's another $150/$200....

Added insulation, windlace replace (ugh), panel replace/repair, run wire to tail for strobe later, new placards, paint good panels to match new panels, add retract shoulder, etc....  Now the glare shield will now look bad, when it was once the nicest part of the interior.  

Curious also how easy the install goes.  With all this extra work, I would want a straight forward option.

[A64Pilot]

I think you guys are missing my point.

The weak link here isn’t the lock, but the way it’s installed. I’ve not looked at a Mooney, but other aircraft locks are installed with something that’s pretty weak to keep the cylinder from rotating. Install a super heavy duty expensive lock, the thief still sticks a big screwdriver into the key slot and rotates the assembly unlocking the door. They don’t defeat the lock and they aren’t picking them in most cases, much faster and easier to simply break in.

A Medeco as it has another set of cuts in the key are very difficult to pick, it takes a special machine to cut a Medeco key and I believe it’s a special blank too, see attached photo or if you have a Medeco lock look at your key, those diagonal cuts in the teeth are what makes it so hard to pick. This is a pic of my AH-64D master key which is a Medeco.

But thieves aren’t picking the cheap cabinet lock, they are defeating the structure it’s mounted in, so a super strong lock doesn’t make any difference.

 

[A64Pilot]

On 12/6/2022 at 11:09 AM, trevttu76 said:

It's amazing how true the term "project creep" is when you get into something. 

In aircraft design we called it creeping elegance, seemed always when you were almost always through you would determine you could make it better if you started over.

We had another saying, “At some point shoot the Engineers and just build the thing”

Many designs die due to creeping elegance as they eventually run out of money.

It’s real easy for it to blow a budget all to pieces, even in something like remodeling a house.

But you ought to ask yourself before you spend a couple hundred dollars here and there, does it really improve the aircraft? 

Unless of course money is no object, some have enough to burn

[KB4]

Just tighten the nut on back to keep it from spinning. 

[Mooney-Shiner]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:11 AM, KB4 said:

Just tighten the nut on back to keep it from spinning. 

Not to kidnap the add, but my lock can be forced spun if I will pull on the door handle hard enough. I keep tighten the lock, but it still spins