The DOOR STEWARD

[bagarre]

Does anyone have this installed?
Does anyone have opinions on them?

It seems like a good idea.

[GAHorn]

David...you did'nt do a "search" of the forums, did you...

There are several threads where they are discussed.... this one has 5 pages of comments so be certain to visit all the pages (page 2 has pics). http://www.cessna170.org/forums/viewtop ... or+steward

Richard Pulley (hilltop170) has them and loves them.

I personally am concerned they place a lot of stress on the lower door hinges in windy conditions. (Solution: Regardless of the mods you have...ALWAYS keep your doors closed when you aren't using them and in the immediate vicinity. Doors are fragile, ...becoming scarce...and hinges are becoming extinct!)

[bagarre]

Yeah. I'm guilty, I didn't search before asking
And I'm usually pretty good about that.

The pressure on the hinges is what I was worrying about.
It would depend on how stiff the gas cylinder is set up to be.
Too stiff and it will wear the lower hinge every time you open the door.
Too soft and it might not save you if the wind catches it.

When working, I like to prop the doors open for better ventilation but I've had the wind pop the tinnerman lose and slam the door shut on me. It rarely blows from the East so, I've never had it blow open but I imagine that is the worse case.

So, IF it doesn't cause undue wear on the hinges AND it can prevent door slam; it's worth the $350 (IMO).

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

David my first airplane didn't have the door stops installed on the wing when I bought it so there was nothing to latch the door to and of course nothing to stop the door from wrapping itself around the strut when your buddy leaves it open. I later found the door stops and installed them on the wing and thought they were one of the best parts I'd reinstalled. But before I reinstalled the door stops my buddy and future airplane partner saw I didn't have a door stops and thought that was pretty slick. Without asking me he did not have the stops reinstalled when he had the wings rebuilt. I'm now a partner in his plane and the first thing I realized is he had no door stops. I asked why and he said becasue he sae I'd taken mine off which of course I hadn't.

So...once again I have an airplane with NO door stops and I can't even easily reinstall them because there are no provisions for them in the new wing skin.


That whole story to say that I've spent a lot of time owning and working on an airplane were the door won't stay open and can not be left unsecured and there isn't even any way to temporarily secure it open.

So very early in 170 ownership I devised a simple method to hold and secure my doors open. With the door open against the door stop I measured the distance between the strut and the door at the lower corner aft corner of the window. I cut a piece of 2" PVC pipe to this length. It is about 10". I then got a length of parachute cord about 3 times the measured length. I would run the cord through the pipe around the door frame through the open window and back through the pipe. I then take the two ends of cord and tie them around the strut so the length of pipe was held snugly in between the door and the strut acting as a brace.

Very simple, very effective. I carry these pipes (one for each door) and cord in my airplane today by simply stuffing the cord inside the pipe and putting them under the back seat.

I use them any time I'm working on the interior or loading the airplane. Of course with door stops, you wouldn't need the the pipe, just the cord. The Door Stewart might be nice but a cheap and simple solution to your problem is a piece or two of cord and some PVC pipe.

[cessna170bdriver]

Short bungee cord through the window opening and around the strut.

[170C]

Bruce, go ahead and post some photos of you door items as there may be a bunch of us that need to see what you are talking about.

I have the door stops (SKY Stops or similiar name) that has the fitting that is riveted to the door and has two adjustable steel balls (like bearing balls) that capture the fitting on the wing. They work reasonably well most of the time. However if there is a strong wind blowing on them they will release the door to slam closed or againt me or whatever may be in the way. If they are adjusted too tight, they won't accept the wing mounted fitting. Also if the plane is parked on an incline they are less effective.

As I mentioned a long time ago, I once saw a C-180 that had the best door restraints/stops where a lever devise attached to the wing (where our stops are secured). It permitted the door to be opened fully and the lever dropped over the top edge of the door holding it securely. When ready to close the door a simple upward push of the lever released the door. Someone with some expertise in designing this could come up with a copy. Maybe I will make a "rough" drawing and send to Bruce & see if he has some thought on how it might be made.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Frank, if I was any where near the plane I would have taken a picture and saved the time spent trying to describe it.

[Blue4]

I like my original (George, are you listening?) door stops for a simple reason. With Cessna "R" pins installed, I can remove the doors in seconds. This greatly eases the loading of bulky items. Reinstallation is fairly quick and painless as well, keeping in mind to take care of the hinges.

I've been told that with the Door Steward there is no quick & easy way to disconnect the gas struts from the doors; is this correct? Thanks in advance.
-Scott

[cmsusllc]

David, I've never met anyone that has them who would ever be without them again. Put them on and you can join our ranks.
Scott..... 53B.... with door stewarts.

[hilltop170]

The Door Stewards never let the door slam in either direction and there is never a shock load to the hinges or door latch. If the door is open and the wind catches the door, they slowly let the door open to full travel. If the wind blows the door closed, again they gradually let it close without slamming.

When you get out of the plane just open the latch and let the door go. It will smoothly swing open and gently stop.

When I'm opening the door, most Cessna guys who have not seen the Door Stewards before will try to grab the door to stop it from swinging when they think I have just carelessly let it go. They are surprised and impressed when I show them how well it works.

They can be removed in seconds by simply pulling the socket mounted on either end of the cylinder off of the ball that is mounted on the door or on the fuselage.

[GAHorn]

Here's a You Tube video which shows one in operation. (It appears to slightly limit the angle of opening, but perhaps that's not an important matter for folks slimmer than myself...)

I have no idea what the presenter means by his derogatory comment about Cessna door-limiter parts falling inside the door when the door is removed. Does anyone else? (Oh, wait.... perhaps he means the late-Cessna models which used a short, internal rod/strip which attaches to the forward door frame. This comment would not apply to 170 models.)

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... CL_FaRMPeg

[Brad Brady]

Richard is right, I have installed several. Mostly on 182 and 172's. The 172's have a convoluted locking spring, that seams to wear out easily. causing the door to stop, yet never stay open. The spring has also caused cracks in the doubler behind the lower hinge in the door post. The Door Steward elevates this pressure on the door ( I've seen many doors with the spring outline on the lower door) and the doubler on the door post. Properly installed I recommend this system.

[Brad Brady]

When the spring pushes against the stop pin it puts pressure on the door, allowing the spring to cut a groove in the inside of the door adjacent to the spring. Your right on correcting my spelling errors.

[hilltop170]

............It appears to slightly limit the angle of opening.............

Depending on where the Door Steward brackets are positioned, the door travel could be limited. But, if positioned properly, the door will open to its full travel just short of bumping the strut.

[tweiss]

For $300+ the door stewards are truly one of the most luxurious items I have ever added to the 170. I installed them myself (w/ IA looking over my shoulder of course) and have been enjoying them ever since I opened the box they arrived in.

True you can make the adjustment during installation on how far you want the door to open. I chose to have mine swing as far open as possible without touching the strut. My doors already had the strut impression in both doors, probably from a wind event in the past, but with almost 12,000hrs on the airframe what could be expected. If I lived in a windy place, I would have probably made the adjustment to hold it more short of the strut.

I was skeptical myself of the claim that the door is more secure from the wind in the open position. It's obvious when looking at it that if allowed to sit open in the wind, the door would really work over the whole door steward system in an undesirable way. However in the case of that initial wind that catches you off guard with the door open, you remove the chance for the wind to swing your door from the near closed position until it crashes against the door stop with that sickening sound most of us know. Either way, I always try to secure my doors (closed) when the plane is out of reach.

As far as removing the doors, the struts come with a c-clip as mentioned above that secures the strut socket and ball together. After 3 yrs. I have still not attached them with no problems. Before I remove the door, I just pull up on one or both ends of the strut and it comes off easily.

I think they are an amazing addition to the airplane, and I don't think you will be disappointed either.