I have a 1972 Aztec. The Cabin door appears to shut normally and latch securely but in flight the upper rear corner developes a significant gap, enough to see daylight. The door has an inflatable door seal.
I have tracked it down to the latch/lock knob. When the handle is pushed forward and the lock knob pushed down, the mechanism is sloppy/worn out enough that it allows the upper pin to retract such that it is barely engaged (if at all). THe handle itself was glued onto the splined shaft, so I will need to probably cut that off and replace when it is repaired.
The cabin door otherwise is fine.
I cannot seem to find anyone with any knowledge of the exact part I need, if it is possible to get the part, and what it might take to fix the part. MOst places I have been calling never call back, including one Piper dealer. I can find a door but I dont need a door and replacing the whole door would entail painting it.
Mine can not be the only one like this. Anyone else have this issue?
Also, although this is a model E, by serial number/year, the door itself appears to be a model F as it has the center latch on the door and the external release. Is this common? I have have the parts manual and there doesnt seem to be anyway that this should have that latch on this model year.
I have tracked it down to the latch/lock knob. When the handle is pushed forward and the lock knob pushed down, the mechanism is sloppy/worn out enough that it allows the upper pin to retract such that it is barely engaged (if at all). THe handle itself was glued onto the splined shaft, so I will need to probably cut that off and replace when it is repaired.
The cabin door otherwise is fine.
I cannot seem to find anyone with any knowledge of the exact part I need, if it is possible to get the part, and what it might take to fix the part. MOst places I have been calling never call back, including one Piper dealer. I can find a door but I dont need a door and replacing the whole door would entail painting it.
Mine can not be the only one like this. Anyone else have this issue?
Also, although this is a model E, by serial number/year, the door itself appears to be a model F as it has the center latch on the door and the external release. Is this common? I have have the parts manual and there doesnt seem to be anyway that this should have that latch on this model year.
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