Open Hatch, Scottsdale

[Bolter]

A friend who flies corporate took a video of this Mooney landing at Scottsdale with an open hatch, as he was holding short.  Since I have a Mooney, he sent me this image.  I have a screen grab (below) with the tail number intentionally not visible.  There was a chance that the owner would want a picture, or maybe the video, so I am posting it here.  The video is not great quality, like this grab, but shows the plane flying by to landing.

Just sharing the image.  No judgment.  This has happened to several Mooney pilots.   I did it myself in a Piper Cherokee.

[Hank]

Oops! Been there, done that . . . . Noticed early, stayed slow and landed soon, nothing but a small crease in the top of the door--holds it open a couple of inches, easy to notice that it's not latched closed.

Don't notice soon, or happen at / near cruise speed, then all bets are off.

Hope he did the former!

[N201MKTurbo]

I’ve never made it past the takeoff roll. 

[Ragsf15e]

I think it’s happened to a lot of them.  Mine has a slight crease along the top from some prior owner.

[mike_elliott]

One of the things I try to impress on new Mooney owners to help prevent this is to always lock the hatch if it's down and closed. leave it up and open if it is not locked . Learning this simple standard practice will prevent opening in flight and is easily done with new owners before they get into other habits

[IFLYIFR]

When I was studying for the commercial rating, I bought the Martha King video that demonstrated all of the maneuvers. She flew a striped Mooney AT in the video. During the preflight she closed the baggage door WITHOUT locking it and then started the engine to takeoff. She did not lock the baggage door.


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[MikeOH]

I keep the mag and door key on the same key ring. Key stays in baggage door lock until closed and locked. Can’t start up if the mag key is still dangling on the open baggage door

[steingar]

Leaving the luggage door unsecured is bad, landing in front of your friends with the thing open is really really bad.  My CFI did the same thing in his Bravo, ripped the door off.  Thankfully that was in happier days and he was able to get a new one.

[Yetti]

It's either up.  OR down and locked.      It may or may not have been opened on take off once.   I can reach back and push on it to check it from inside on.

[ArtVandelay]

Can you open it from the inside if locked?

[201er]

Am I the only one trying to click the picture to watch? 

[PT20J]

3 minutes ago, 201er said:

Am I the only one trying to click the picture to watch? 

No, but you are probably the only one who will admit it 

[PT20J]

20 minutes ago, ArtVandelay said:

Can you open it from the inside if locked?

Any that have the factory inside handle will open when locked from the outside.

[rickseeman]

Do they ever come unlatched in flight or is this from not latching it?

[PT20J]

2 minutes ago, rickseeman said:

Do they ever come unlatched in flight or is this from not latching it?

I believe most instances are from failing to close the latch completely before flight. On the models with an internal latch, it is possible to improperly reset this latch after use which might cause it to open in flight. Also, if the cover is missing it might be possible for something in the baggage compartment to shift and catch the latch.

[rickseeman]

Thank you

[47U]

23 hours ago, rickseeman said:

Do they ever come unlatched in flight or is this from not latching it?

I know of a ‘62 C that had the baggage door open inflight.  It was closed and latched, but not locked.  He had just gotten past the coastal range and was descending at a pretty high airspeed, night VFR.  He went through an inversion layer and experienced extreme turbulence.  The door did not depart, but was warped pretty good.  He sourced a salvage door but, being hand-fitted to each airframe, it was less work for his A&P to straighten and reskin the original door.

That must be one big jolt to unpin the door.  Crazy.

[EricJ]

On 12/7/2022 at 9:21 AM, rickseeman said:

Do they ever come unlatched in flight or is this from not latching it?

Mine did it once, but it was because it wasn't fully latched after a distraction.    In my case it popped open during takeoff roll and I just aborted and went back to the hangar and fixed it.    The only damage was that the stay came separated from the fuselage, but it was minor and easily repaired.

[Fly Boomer]

6 hours ago, 47U said:

The door did not depart, but was warped pretty good.

There is a video floating around somewhere of a Mooney that made an emergency landing with the baggage door wrapped around the horizontal.

[Hank]

6 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

There is a video floating around somewhere of a Mooney that made an emergency landing with the baggage door wrapped around the horizontal.

That was a K model in England, landed on a short grass field. All repaired and flying again now.

[Mcstealth]

On 12/5/2022 at 11:33 PM, Ragsf15e said:

I think it’s happened to a lot of them.  Mine has a slight crease along the top from some prior owner.

Sure it was a prior owner.....;)

[Bolter]

53 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

There is a video floating around somewhere of a Mooney that made an emergency landing with the baggage door wrapped around the horizontal.

Videos form the pilot himself: