Had a door pop open on a final in to Smithville Texas years ago while flying a Cherokee 140. The wife tried to jump into my lap. Dealing with the passenger and reassuring them that they could not push the door open any further if they tried because of the airflow while you are flying the plane down final does make those landing rememberable.
Had the door pop open in a Cherokee 180 over the San Joaquin valley at 8000 feet. This was back before headphones, boy was it loud. My wife yelled at me saying she was still there. We landed at small airport to close it and get some coffee. A poor salesman walked out to my wife and started to talk to her about airplanes, he was sorry for ever saying anything to her. She was not a happy camper.
40 years ago I was asked to help scatter a friend’s ashes after he passed away. The family met me at the airport with Vern’s ashes, and his son flew with me. I had a Tri-pacer, which has a back door on the pilot’s side. The son sat in back, and the plan was to make a low pass over the runway while he dumped the ashes. No one thought about the back draft that would be caused by opening the door in flight. When the son started pouring Vern overboard, the wind whipped around that door and blew about 40% of Vern back into the plane. My partner, who was flying in the right seat, opened the front door to create some airflow through the cabin, and eventually Vern exited. I sold that plane to a guy in Alaska, so a little bit of Vern got to visit our 49th state.
While training for my private in a Cessna 172 back in the day, on climb out once, my instructor reached over and popped open my door. I looked at him with wide eyes, but he calmly said “just fly the plane.” Never forgot that lesson!
I’ve had the door pop open on my Kitfox a handful of times. It’s pretty violent and loud when it happens! Luckily it can be flown with the doors open so it doesn’t do any damage to anything aside from my underwear 🤪
I've had an open door a few times in my Mooney. It's definitely a distraction but I changed 2 things after the first time it happened. 1) I always double check the door MYSELF even if the passenger has flown with me multiple times and knows how to close it. You never know when that one time u check it, it's still open. 2) I noticed that ur wife said "no it's fine" when u wanted to land. Always go back to remembering that YOU are the PIC. If that door is open and you're that close to the airport like ur daughter said... Land and fix it. No need to have additional stress of a problem that could have been easily solved at the expense of 5 minutes. Great job focusing on flying the airplane with that distraction and the vibrating elevator!
I totally agree on all points. In my mind I was like I am going back to land no matter what anyone says. We often have to make uncomfortable and unpopular decisions (like cancelling a trip) but that is our job as PIC. You can see I was already turning toward the airport before anything more happened with the jacket. I gave a talk to an Aviation Explorers group and talked about this very thing. Great comment for sure!
This will HAPPEN ONCE! I will promise that Poppins and your Daughters will always truly check that the doors are closed. The check list is NOT to be glossed over, each and every time, fully checking and making SURE.... I wish we had cameras to see how much our stabilator shook. Our luggage door popped open over Wisconsin on our way to a family Christmas in Minnesota, my Mom lost here purse. 7 years later, a package arrived in September for my Mother. A hunter getting ready for archery season found her purse in the woods on a tree limb and sent it back. $83 dollars and everything else.... Once is all it takes and you will ENSURE that the doors are properly latched and closed.
Awesome story! Please, if you can tell me more! What kind of condition was the purse in after being in the elements so long? Was there anything lost on the fall down?
Great video, SCFM! I really enjoy watching your videosI Keep them coming. This vid is a great example of what happens when the “holes in the cheese line up” or the “links in the chain” that lead to disaster. You finally made the right choice to land, which your gut (and your daughter-she’s smart!) told you to do from the outset. This would be a great video for any instructor to show their students. The CFIT warning in mountainous terrain, the open door, the cockpit distractions... all brought you one step closer to what could have been a tragic accident. By breaking a link in the chain of events and committing to land, you got back to your initial gut reaction and made the right decision. We’ve all learned lessons in aviation, so here’s one you can stick in your pocket. As PIC, you get to decide what happens on your plane, not the PAX. My rule of thumb, whether i’m flying a 787 or a Piper, is that if I’m questioning what to do in any circumstance, that’s my gut telling me there really isn’t a debate here and that I know the right choice; That there really isn’t a decision to be made between what I want to do vs. what I need to do. When it comes to being the PIC (of safety, really), there are no wants, just needs. You needed to land and you did. Good job on making the correct decision. BTW, I live just south of Sedona and it is beautiful! Fly safe!
Nice video. Sedona and most of Arizona are amazing. I was right seat a few weeks ago when the door popped open in a Bonanza... the PIC was cool as ice, "ignore it, we'll deal when we land". Not even a flinch. IMHO the door popping open should be part of the pre-takeoff briefing, where the pilot says "don't do anything, we'll just land and fix it". Too many fatal accidents from the exact same situation, where (like in your situation) the passenger overreacts. Great flying.
Great enjoyable videos! Kudos to you for the way you dealt with the urgent situation you had onboard. I'm not sure if your aircraft type's POH has an Emergency Procedure for an open door during flight - but I do know that other Cherokee varients have it (I too found it the hard way). Here it is: 1. Slow aircraft to 100 MPH lAS. 2. Cabin Vents - Close 3. Storm Window - Open 4. If upper latch is open - latch. If lower latch is open - open top latch, push door further open, and then close rapidly. Latch top latch. Looking forward for more great videos!
just found your channel a few days ago. Been going through some of your videos. These are some of the best I've seen on UA-cam. Awesome job. And definitely rule #1 above all else FLY THE PLANE. if you fail that part nothing else that is happening really matters. Enjoy your time and adventures with your beautiful family.
Do not know how good of a cinema guy you are in your "real" job, but as far as videos like this, you are definitely on top of your game. What a refreshing way to present aviation content. Great job !!! PS. As far open door flying goes, my only time was when we removed on purpose the door of a C172 for some aerial pictures. More fun than planned for sure...je
Probably the second time I had lended an plane by myself, my instructors seat broke. His seat reclined flat, and as an older gentleman could not get himself back up. Mind you this is short final in contested airspace. He told me you got this just land it. By shear luck I greased it. Luckily it was only the bolt that holds the seat back to bottom seat. We got it fixed, had a good laugh, and got back upon the air. It was nerve racking not having my ace in the hole at the ready, but really helped me gain some confidence. Doesn’t seem so bad now, but I was ready to be on the ground when it happened. I will never forget that.
Great cinematography, editing and story telling. Great information on handling distractions. Thanks for sharing. Turbulence with young daughter who was sure she was going to die was my distraction experience...fly the plane.
One of my favorite trails near Sedona is the West Fork Trail of Oak Creek. It follows the canyon upstream and you cross the creek multiple times. The trailhead is a couple miles north of town. Been there last fall and all the yellow and red colored leaves were just gorgeous! I love how Sedona is right at the point where the desert climate from the Phoenix valley transitions more and more into forest which gets denser the higher up in elevation you go towards Flagstaff. Also, make sure to get some candy at the Sedona Fudge Company while you’re there!
I trained in Florida and we always had the door open until just before take off to cool the cabin. My instructor told me that eventually I'll forget to latch it, but don't worry - just fly the plane. It will be noisy and you'll lose a bit of performance, but the plane will fly just fine. A few weeks later on a solo he was right and I forogt to close the door. I finished the take off, stabilized the plane and finally reached over and closed it while sending good thoughts to my instructor for preparing me for this.
Yup. 1997 at FZY. Cessna 150 my door un-latched and popped open an inch or so on rotation. Automatic reaction ... "Fly the plane". Completed 1 lap in pattern, full stop landing, shut and latched my door and took off. (of course announced intentions on unicom) Great day.
Its so instructional sharing your videos with us that you do. I have had on several occasions not latched a door properly and yes no big deal. But, admittingly I thought the jacket would have been a good idea. Amazing how quickly it got sucked out and the pronounced effect it has on the flight characteristics. Its one of these smaller incidences that makes it so valuable to be able to see the results. Hats off to you for keeping your cool. Adds a lot to the pilot tool set. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for the comment. I was also super surprised that the jacket got out such a tiny opening. It was like an octopus finding its way through a tiny hole if you've ever seen a video of that...
Had my door pop open during a flight when I had my CFI with me - totally distracted me at takeoff, and thankfully my instructor told me what should have been obvious: it isn't even remotely critical right now, just continue, fly the plane. Thanks to that I know how I'll handle it if it happens when I'm not in a training scenario.
Wow okay then! I've not had a door pop open, but your video affirmed what I have a habit of doing, which is reach over and push on the door myself. I also know from experience (I fly Warriors) that sometimes the latches just won't catch, usually the upper one, unless you pull on the door shut. So I'm always checking on the doors to confirm that my passenger got it secure. Thank you for sharing the video! I must admit I felt the stress of the moment, and even thought about having her let go of the jacket, BUT did not consider what may happen if that heavy jacket hit the stabilator at 100mph! So good catch!
I had the same thing happen in a PA-28-140. An old Cherokee 140 back in the early 70's while flying out of Melbourne, Florida. My biggest rememberence was trying to communicate over the Radio due to the cabin noise. Landed at Lakeland and the local FBO helped me with the door.
When I was a student pilot, the right window of the 172 would have a tendancy to pop open in flight. It actually provided my CFI and I an opportunity to talk about the "what-if" of distractions. Still scared me the first time it flew open.
Had the door on the Arrow pop open just like that leaving KCWF a few years back with my young son in the right seat. Usually happens right after rotation like mine and from what I've been told. Just got noisy, told tower I needed to make a closed pattern and land. Your video really proves that doing anything with the door just has the potential to make things worse. Better to just accept the noise and cold and make it back to the runway to deal with it on the ground. Thanks for the video proof of what happens and can happen. Thankful that you were able to get it back to Sedona before that coat affected the stabilator.
Yeah we definitely learned from this one. I've had the door open a bit on solo flights and I just leave it. Actually feels kind of good in the summer but it's noisy AF!
Over the years I have had a few doors pop open and they always got treated as a non-event ,no big deal. Flew the plane and depending on the plane, shut the door when appropriate or left it open. First flight lesson on tail wheel in a champ, shortly after take off door popped open and we flew around for an hour with an open door. stating the obvious, your open door was not a problem, just a nu-sense. the attempt to fix that lead to a problem. glad it ended well. many pilots have dented the dirt trying to fix a nu-sense and didn't live to tell anyone. Oh and sweet ride.
Went flying with my brother and his girlfriend a few weeks back in a C-182. I was enjoying the scenery here in New Mexico and looking for traffic when I faintly heard the girl friend say to my brother "I'm kinda warm, can you crack open the window?" Which he dutifully did just before I could yell "NO!". When that window popped open, they both jumped like a fire cracker was under 'em. As the tears of laughter were falling, I told my brother to pull the window closed and asked if he'd lost anything out the window. He turned to me, white as a sheet, and shook his head, but showed me that he'd been holding brand new iPhone. I've updated my passenger briefing to include not touching anything, including doors and windows. Great videos, really love that your family enjoys traveling with you.
very true- i'm glad too. I think all the old airplanes have a tendency to have some door alignment issues but in this case it just wasn't properly latched.
I was getting my complex at KSBA in January and the door popped open right over the ocean in takeoff as well. Definitely something I won’t forget and a good thing to triple check hahaha
@@SoCalFlyingMonkey Yes I do find being a CFI/CFII to be very rewarding. It's a fun gig - now obviously instructing is not for everyone. You got to have patience and that desire to be a good teacher. I got plenty of stories of crappy instructors from me being a student or even recently seeing some instructors like "How are you still instructing?"
I've had a door open on a Cherokee 180. We turned around and landed. Luckily no vibration, but I guess that was the coat. Weird how it got sucked out like that. Glad you guys were OK. I've also had a door open on a C172, again, just turned around and landed. // I enjoyed your little family vacation, thanks for taking us along.
Had a tailwind at 4000 ft climbing in my A36 doing 190 over ground when my door popped open! It sounded like my engine had blown up, all of my papers were sucked out the door, it was very chaotic looking but the first thing I did, fortunately was check my instruments and fly the plane! Returned to my RDU base, landed and took off again immediately. Was a very scary experience but prepared me for another pop open ON TAKEOFF in GRBO but early enough to set it back down on the active runway.
I've had doors come open flying Cessnas (172 and 182) but never in the Cherokee Six. I do know that our door seal isn't thick enough, and once we're at speed the door is pulled outward enough that if the person in the right seat has long hair, it can end up out through the aft door seal area and be on the outside of the plane. It's great that you had the multiple camera angles to be able to capture all of that so well, and to show the horizontal stab moving in the disturbed airflow. Well done. And I loved the reindeer.
I used to see her hair out the front door but I very recently re-rigged the door with new eyebolt, washers and clevis pins and the seal is a lot better. But not if you don’t engage the bottom pin on the strike plate!
I had a open door once on a 56nm trip, we where on a Piper Seneca V, it was almost right after take off but we decided to keep going. In this cases as you said its very important no to loose focus and keep flying the plane. Nice Channel, already subscribed. GREETINGS FROM GUATEMALA, CENTRAL AMERICA!
I've been to Sedona many times. In fact, my little granddaughter is named Sedona, too. Flew into that great little airport in a Bonanza. Took off to the west and the plane wouldn't climb. I thought it was the heat. Did my checks and discovered that I was flying on one mag. Never made that mistake again. I also had a door issue with an instructor. He failed to close the door tightly so we just went around and landed again. So I now double check the doors and the mags.
About a week ago myself and my Father in Law, who has been a pilot for over 20 years, we’re testing the new throttle cable install on a Beechcraft Bonanza VTail that he acquired. I have spent about 6-8 hours training in this aircraft. On the way back south from a short 20 minute trip and full stop. I realized that we were getting a lot of noise inside of the aircraft. He looked to his right and realized the door was not latched properly. We just focused on flying and got plane down on the ground without incident. I watched your video about a week before this happened. Your calm and cool demeanor really showed me what to do. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
I had a 1967 Piper Arrow for 5 years. Twice I took off with door not shut tight. The first time I flew to my destination less than an hour, little noisy but that’s all. 2nd time figured it out right after t/o and circled back to land and resolve. Neither time was chaotic, just a nuisance. Also had cargo door come ajar on another flight 5 minutes before arrival to destination airport. All 3 times had passengers & none freaked out! Thank God!
Flew with a friend (I was safety pilot) to get a tour of the Allentown, Pa tower. On the way, we had an alternator failure. Flying home after the tour, we needed to do some scud running and at the same time realized the pilot door was not fully closed on our C172. Wasn't the best flying experience I've had, but it was my 40th birthday and my wife gave me a surprise party that night. So, it ended well!
It also opened the door during takeoff on a Cherokee six but my Flight Instructor was in the right seat so i had no problem, but its good to know that even a jacket can cause an accident, im glad everything turned fine and your family its ok. Awesome Videos!
It turned out to be a great experience for me. On the first take off in a set of circuits which was planned to include my first solo in a Cessna 152 the door blew open upon rotation. Was great to have my instructor sat by my side, calmly explaining that these things happen and that the priority was to maintain airspeed and runway heading and that we would sort out the door problem at an appropriate time. It put my mind at ease that I would be capable of maintaining the same level of calm if that occurred on my own. Thanks for the video! Props to Poppins for hanging on to the jacket. There was a horrible accident in Wanaka New Zealand a couple of years ago where a Carhart jacket was sucked out of the door of a small helicopter and got tangled up in the rotor blades killing one of the children of Tim Wallis (a famous aviator from the region). Both the families history and that accident are worth looking up for interest.
Hi from Germany, absolutely brilliant videos!! This one with Sedona really got us! We been there 2018 after the Heli Expo, and actually spent some time at some of the same places! Really amazing place ! You are doing a brilliant job with your videos! I like the way how you enjoy the opportunities you have with your family! As a commercial Helicopter Pilot I am just converting to the Fixed Wing World to actually use it more with my family! I am looking forward to see more from you and your family!! Cheers
Guten tag! :) Thanks for the comment. I hope you enjoyed Sedona as much as we have. Just can;t wait to go back. Good luck on your fixed wing flight training. It is probably a lot easier than helicopters!
Thanks for the sub! Hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel. Another video that is most similar to this is our Paragliding adventure in Santa Barbara..so you may enjoy that one as well.
Was in a Civil Air Patrol GA8 doing some mission training. Sliding door came ajar during takeoff and actually broke off the bottom rail. We landed fine and fixed the door.
I have had it happen a couple of times in an Arrow and a Cherokee Six. It is possible to close them in flight. The first thing is to secure loose objects, then slow to a few knots above stall with full flap on. Open the pilots clear view window, release the top latch and quickly open the door and slam it shut. Close the top latch and clean up the aircraft then resume normal flight. Opening the clear view window is the crucial bit as it slightly reduces the pressure in the cabin and allows the door to close.
had the gull wing door pop open in a cessna 162 when my instructor forgot to latch the door. almost lost an Ipad out the door. pulled power to idle so he could reach out and shut it.
My first heli flight was over Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, when my door flew open. My first thought was "great, my photos will be better" then I thought "the pilot may want me to close the door", so I did the right thing and pulled it closed.
Flying back from AUN to LVK in a Cesna 172 my passenger mentioned that my door wasn't closed. I've driven a Jeep for years and sometimes the soft doors just pop open. Also, driving with the doors off is pretty natual too, so I just reached my right hand over to the door and popped it shut. My passenger was amazed at how calm I was, but in a Jeep or a Cesna it's not big deal.
My door on a 152 popped open at least a half dozen times during flight training. Not a big deal if you let it be. Much better to ignore the minor issue, land, and fix the door.
I had the door opened on my Cherokee 180 one time. If you trim for slow flight, you can open the door and slam it and latch it again while in flight. Just for future reference.
If you watch at 10:25 you can see something flapping from the bottom of the door. Could that have had anything to do with why the door would not latch? And good on her for not letting that jacket go because that absolutely could have caused issues with the stabilizer.
After my wife and I owned our plane for nearly 2 years, she was so good at helping me pack it, that it seemed silly not to give her an extra key so that I could open the front door, while she could open the baggage door. Dropped her off at KWHP that afternoon on our way home from SF, then headed to Palm Springs. Soon as I landed, got the call from the FBO - "70A, there appears to be something flapping on the side of your aircraft..." baggage door key is stubborn, it seems.
I have seen some of your videos, and your landings look so smooth man! I truly enjoy your videos. My son and I just started Ground School and our dream is to do like you're doing, enjoying the skies and taking family trips.
During my flight training my instructors door on a Cessna 150 popped open on downwind. Scared me as I had no clue what to do. Didn't seam to phase him at all, he just shut it, looked at me and laughed. This happened after an hour of flying. Other times I've had a luggage door with a bad latch that would pop open when landing so after a few touch and goes someone on the radio would inform us of the open baggage door. So far after getting my PPL I have not had such an experience.
Of course we also once forgot to close the door of our PA28-181 and started to fly slower because you can close your door again during flight at a certain speed. A tip is that you can take a look in your Pilot Operating Handbook because it contains the speed at which you can close your door during the flight.
Hey my name is Indy, I'm 22 living here in California. Just wanted to say I really like watching your videos. I took my first flight last year and I've had a bug for flying ever since. Came across your videos and now I want to look into getting my private pilots license. If you have any tips or info i should know I'd like to know, your wife is a legend for saving the jacket too.
There may be scholarship opportunities for young aviators. Search up aviation explorers and see what the age cut offs are and it may lead you to some other resources. Start ground school online and find a good instructor that you connect with. Thanks for watching!
Used to live in Sedona. Took flying lessons at that airport for a while. Flew out over the meteor crater on the way to the Winslow Airport nearby. I assume you've done that, but if you haven't, it's worth going back just for that experience. I also climbed and camped on the very top of Bell Rock with two friends. I brought what I needed to make cappuccino up there for us all the next morning and blew their minds. On the way down we saved a tourist who had gotten in over his head on the climb and dislocated his shoulder. We rigged a harness for him and lowered him on our equipment ropes. Not a bad adventure.
Wow camping atop Bell Rock sounds amazing. My kids love that place- all they want to do is go there and climb. I hope they don't end up like the guy you had to rescue! Never flown over Meteor Crater but it sounds great - I will keep it in mind. I have been there a couple times on the ground and it is cool.
awesome ADM. You are the PIC of that flight and no matter what your pax want, what you say goes. I guess when it is family you are flying with, that PIC decision making is harder to pass on. The more you make your family familiar with the regulations and knowledge of flying airplanes the more you can rely on them as crew members!
Great video. Almost died in Sedona on a backpacking trip, but that’s a different story. Open doors are part of flying. Fly long enough, it will happen. I’ve had several times where long pieces of clothing get caught in the door in the winter. 1. Never try to close it. It just won’t work. 2. It’s not that big of a deal. 3. Go land at your origin airport. 4. On low IMC days triple check it. Taking off, identifying the problem, programming in a return approach, and landing in a high workload environment is a terrible idea. Great job!
It's funny I did the same thing with my Father in Law and two passengers, trusted him to secure the door and it wasn't - no coat, no buffeting but still in the end made me a better pilot, even if I was mad at myself for a while :)
Great video! I had the door on my Cherokee 235 pop open on my first solo! Talk about nuts. All I could hear was my CFI telling me to "Fly the airplane!" as if he were sitting right next to me. Turned out to be completely uneventful...but not something you want to experience in that setting. Great job - love your videos!!
Hi all .... I'm glad you guys handled the open door situation. We had. Piper archer for years (88 - 2005) and yes we too had open door situations. What we did -to fix it was have my wife lean into me and I push the door open 3 inches or so and pulled it shut tight and then latch it - easy peasy! As you build time and familiarization you'll use your checklist less and less ... this s the real problem. As PIC we cannot ask wives and kids to confirm systems .... I.e., the door and the latch. The more disciplined a pilot can be with the checklists the safer you'll fly. After learning these lessons I always flew as if I were on a check ride with an imaginary check-ride pilot. Just suggesting ... love your videos - they trigger many memories of N4483F. From the rebuild, new interior and paint etc .... enjoy and fly safe!
Great Videos. Learned over many years of flying and a few open doors, The pilot should always close and latch the door. Once we adhered to that, never had the problem again.
Double date to go get dinner and a night on the town. C172, and the PAX Door pops half way to the destination. I made sure my date was belted in and nothing near the door that would fall out. Slowed down to MCA (minimum control not cruise). Put handle in the full open position. Kicked right rudder and kept level while pushing and then pulling the door closed and let go of the rudder. Then latched it. Did it all without any excitement. Date was amazed and stayed vary awake on the way back. It is amazing how the cruising slip stream will open the door about 1/2 an inch but then it is nearly impossible to move either way.
It is really a great place to fly and then not far from the Grand Canyon. Just study up on the airport before you go (on a mesa so expect downdrafts, sloping runway, etc)
Great job staying calm and in control. Big fan, love how you bring family and flying together. Actually about the door I noticed on multiple videos that exact door seemed to me no shut property, if you look at video of Close Call going to KIZA. Just as you taking off door looks not totally flushed with fuselage. Minute 2 of video
Yeah I replaced the hardware (eyebolts and clevis pins) and moved the strike plate to make it as tight as possible. I think that's as good as it's going to get. It doesn't look flush but is all the way closed. Just a high time airframe door...
Good job staying calm and flying the plane. Had an open door in a pa32 as well, unfortunately it was a broken top latch so we had to fly with the door cracked open from Napa back to Van Nuys and it was not fun. I didn’t have the problem you had with the flutter on the stabilizer so I felt ok to keep flying.
Oh yeah the open door can be really annoying because it is super loud and can be really cold. In the SoCal summer though I once had the door slightly open and it was super nice because it was much cooler. :) The The PA32 will fly fine with the door closed, slightly open, or off completely but if you hang a jacket out in the slipstream apparently not! Haha
Had a door open on an IMC departure out of KSMO in a Warrior for a short flight to KMYF. Going back for an approach to the field with possible holding and delay was not an attractive option - so I told my passenger we could keep going if he was ok with it. Luckily he agreed. Once level at cruising altitude, we were able to get the door closed by yawing the plane. You did a great job getting it back with that coat fluttering in the slipstream. That must have been pretty unnerving.
It was definitely unnerving as the plane was shuddering. When we have had open door issues we have never been able to get the door closed again but I need to try slow flight and yawing a bit. I think we could do it like you said...
I've had a door pop mores than once in different planes. In many cases (if the pax has some strength) it can be resecured depending on the latch mechanism, but safest bet is to do what you did and land. Great content and looking forward to meeting you some day.
Two great trails: 1. Wilson Mtn, not difficult, but takes a while- the payoff is the view at the end (peak) of the trail; 2. Devil’s Bridge- sensational hike although some is over rock & if you don’t find the cairns you one can easily get off-trail.
Sure did! Happened to me once in a Beech Baron 25+years ago. Both I and my CFI had never flown a Baron before and it’s the only plane left on a tarmac. So we just jumped in and went on to accumulate my flight hours. As soon as we’re airborne the door popped open and my flight instructor hold on for dear life fearing that it would came off and hit the tail (the shape of the door might had something to do with the strong force trying to pull the door outwards). I made a 180 and landed on to the the oppose runway. 25+ years later and 25,000+ hours later (mostly on 777 and 787). This clip sure brings back the memories. Good job!
I had that once, couple of month back. Its scary, but i continued to fly the plane and landed safe. Good check before take off is high prio now on my list.
And a John Muir fan too... Awesome content man! I had the canopy suck open in a Sportcruiser once, after one pilot wrecked one at the end of the runway because of it. You did it right. Thanks for the inspiration. Sedona is next for the wife and I!
Just a tip from someone who flight instructed in pipers for a couple years, pop your breather window open and it will relieve the pressure on the door and usually allow it to be closed. Sorry if someone already said this. Blue Skies!
We got one of our student's that was scared of flying. The first flight he did in the left seat, while banking left, the door of the Cessna 152 opened. He never flew again
When we started to roll, I need to do a checklist saying “power available, speed alive, no alerts, continue”. My CFI used to open the window of the C172 during the take-off roll to check my reactions... If I kept on flying while the window was open, it meant that I wasn’t paying attention. :-)
Man, I love your videos - and I feel like I am learning a lot from them! It's a similar dream I have planned with my wife (although she's just as sketch about small planes, so have some convincing to do). Watching this one - my palms were definitely sweaty, but you kept it all focused on landing safely. From one SoCal local to another - let's hit the 405 to the 101 through the Pass :)
I really believe that this flight is worthy of a full-and-complete debrief (so that you can understand the decisions that were made; how those led you into the situation that you were in, and; how that scenario could have been avoided [by employing better ADM]).
Flying the old Bell Ranger 206 trainers, the doors would open all the time when practicing approaches. In a helicopter, though, you can slow down enough to close it in the air.
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Had a door pop open on a final in to Smithville Texas years ago while flying a Cherokee 140. The wife tried to jump into my lap. Dealing with the passenger and reassuring them that they could not push the door open any further if they tried because of the airflow while you are flying the plane down final does make those landing rememberable.
for sure. I always hear my instructor's voice because he always would say just fly the airplane...
I lived in Smithville and flew out of there for a few years! I still pop in every now and then! It's a shame the fly-in was cancelled this year.
I had my door pop open on my way to Smithville. Lol
Had the door pop open in a Cherokee 180 over the San Joaquin valley at 8000 feet. This was back before headphones, boy was it loud. My wife yelled at me saying she was still there. We landed at small airport to close it and get some coffee. A poor salesman walked out to my wife and started to talk to her about airplanes, he was sorry for ever saying anything to her. She was not a happy camper.
The CFI's door kept opening during my flight training. Doing banks and door opening during your flight can be unnerving in an LSA.
40 years ago I was asked to help scatter a friend’s ashes after he passed away. The family met me at the airport with Vern’s ashes, and his son flew with me. I had a Tri-pacer, which has a back door on the pilot’s side. The son sat in back, and the plan was to make a low pass over the runway while he dumped the ashes. No one thought about the back draft that would be caused by opening the door in flight. When the son started pouring Vern overboard, the wind whipped around that door and blew about 40% of Vern back into the plane. My partner, who was flying in the right seat, opened the front door to create some airflow through the cabin, and eventually Vern exited. I sold that plane to a guy in Alaska, so a little bit of Vern got to visit our 49th state.
That's a great story thanks for sharing. (and sorry about your friend)
@@SoCalFlyingMonkey I feel like vern would have loved the story though...
😂😂😂 I absolutely love that send-off story…
While training for my private in a Cessna 172 back in the day, on climb out once, my instructor reached over and popped open my door. I looked at him with wide eyes, but he calmly said “just fly the plane.” Never forgot that lesson!
I’ve had the door pop open on my Kitfox a handful of times. It’s pretty violent and loud when it happens! Luckily it can be flown with the doors open so it doesn’t do any damage to anything aside from my underwear 🤪
Haha. I think we should start carrying an underwear change as part of our in plane emergency backpack.. btw, sent you a DM on Insta.
@@SoCalFlyingMonkey Collaboration??? Great footage - its obvious both you and Trent make a living in the film/video industry. Thanks for the content.
Lmao
Trent, love your videos, too.
And your seat
I've had an open door a few times in my Mooney. It's definitely a distraction but I changed 2 things after the first time it happened. 1) I always double check the door MYSELF even if the passenger has flown with me multiple times and knows how to close it. You never know when that one time u check it, it's still open. 2) I noticed that ur wife said "no it's fine" when u wanted to land. Always go back to remembering that YOU are the PIC. If that door is open and you're that close to the airport like ur daughter said... Land and fix it. No need to have additional stress of a problem that could have been easily solved at the expense of 5 minutes. Great job focusing on flying the airplane with that distraction and the vibrating elevator!
I totally agree on all points. In my mind I was like I am going back to land no matter what anyone says. We often have to make uncomfortable and unpopular decisions (like cancelling a trip) but that is our job as PIC. You can see I was already turning toward the airport before anything more happened with the jacket. I gave a talk to an Aviation Explorers group and talked about this very thing. Great comment for sure!
I agree with everything. The pilot in command is always responsible for making the decisions and ensuring safety to their passengers.
Totally agree with this. Aircraft flying significantly out of configuration is a good reason to get it back on the ground.
With my flight instructor in the Cessna we started using the doors to turn.
😂😂😂😂😂 hilarious
This is such a mood given how often my flight school's C152 doors pop in flight.
This will HAPPEN ONCE! I will promise that Poppins and your Daughters will always truly check that the doors are closed. The check list is NOT to be glossed over, each and every time, fully checking and making SURE.... I wish we had cameras to see how much our stabilator shook. Our luggage door popped open over Wisconsin on our way to a family Christmas in Minnesota, my Mom lost here purse. 7 years later, a package arrived in September for my Mother. A hunter getting ready for archery season found her purse in the woods on a tree limb and sent it back. $83 dollars and everything else.... Once is all it takes and you will ENSURE that the doors are properly latched and closed.
Oh my god I love this story. Maybe my favorite comment on a youtube video ever. Haha. Thank you for sharing it!
Happened my very first private flight. It’ll
Not happen again!
Awesome story! Please, if you can tell me more! What kind of condition was the purse in after being in the elements so long? Was there anything lost on the fall down?
Haha imagine the surprise on that guy's face seeing a woman's purse in the middle of nowhere wondering how the hell it would have gotten there!
Having flown a Piper, I know how hard that is to do! The coat was a bad idea though! Keep the great video's coming!
Great video, SCFM! I really enjoy watching your videosI Keep them coming. This vid is a great example of what happens when the “holes in the cheese line up” or the “links in the chain” that lead to disaster. You finally made the right choice to land, which your gut (and your daughter-she’s smart!) told you to do from the outset. This would be a great video for any instructor to show their students. The CFIT warning in mountainous terrain, the open door, the cockpit distractions... all brought you one step closer to what could have been a tragic accident. By breaking a link in the chain of events and committing to land, you got back to your initial gut reaction and made the right decision. We’ve all learned lessons in aviation, so here’s one you can stick in your pocket. As PIC, you get to decide what happens on your plane, not the PAX. My rule of thumb, whether i’m flying a 787 or a Piper, is that if I’m questioning what to do in any circumstance, that’s my gut telling me there really isn’t a debate here and that I know the right choice; That there really isn’t a decision to be made between what I want to do vs. what I need to do. When it comes to being the PIC (of safety, really), there are no wants, just needs. You needed to land and you did. Good job on making the correct decision. BTW, I live just south of Sedona and it is beautiful! Fly safe!
All great tips and I definitely agree. I have done a couple talks about this video recently and think it’s a good learning tool.
Nice video. Sedona and most of Arizona are amazing.
I was right seat a few weeks ago when the door popped open in a Bonanza... the PIC was cool as ice, "ignore it, we'll deal when we land". Not even a flinch. IMHO the door popping open should be part of the pre-takeoff briefing, where the pilot says "don't do anything, we'll just land and fix it". Too many fatal accidents from the exact same situation, where (like in your situation) the passenger overreacts. Great flying.
That is a great idea to include it in the briefing. I am going to add it during mine.
Great enjoyable videos! Kudos to you for the way you dealt with the urgent situation you had onboard. I'm not sure if your aircraft type's POH has an Emergency Procedure for an open door during flight - but I do know that other Cherokee varients have it (I too found it the hard way). Here it is:
1. Slow aircraft to 100 MPH lAS.
2. Cabin Vents - Close
3. Storm Window - Open
4. If upper latch is open - latch. If lower latch is open - open top latch, push door
further open, and then close rapidly. Latch top latch.
Looking forward for more great videos!
good tips. I dont recall the POH having a procedure but I'll double check. I have read It many times. haha
just found your channel a few days ago. Been going through some of your videos. These are some of the best I've seen on UA-cam. Awesome job. And definitely rule #1 above all else FLY THE PLANE. if you fail that part nothing else that is happening really matters. Enjoy your time and adventures with your beautiful family.
Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying the videos. :)
Do not know how good of a cinema guy you are in your "real" job, but as far as videos like this, you are definitely on top of your game. What a refreshing way to present aviation content. Great job !!!
PS. As far open door flying goes, my only time was when we removed on purpose the door of a C172 for some aerial pictures. More fun than planned for sure...je
Appreciate that thank you!
Probably the second time I had lended an plane by myself, my instructors seat broke. His seat reclined flat, and as an older gentleman could not get himself back up. Mind you this is short final in contested airspace. He told me you got this just land it. By shear luck I greased it. Luckily it was only the bolt that holds the seat back to bottom seat. We got it fixed, had a good laugh, and got back upon the air. It was nerve racking not having my ace in the hole at the ready, but really helped me gain some confidence. Doesn’t seem so bad now, but I was ready to be on the ground when it happened. I will never forget that.
I am only nine and my grandfather owns a piper commenchee and I love flying with him. Keep up the good work
Such a beautiful family! Congrats!
Stumbled across this as I have a Grumman and enjoy channels like this. What a wonderful family dynamic you have in addition to the flying. Love it
Thanks so much for the support. I'm really glad you enjoyed the video.
“yes i latched theirs” “i don’t want to” lol had me ded😂😂😂
@Pz ɪɪɪ poor comment about this man's wife.
Great cinematography, editing and story telling. Great information on handling distractions. Thanks for sharing. Turbulence with young daughter who was sure she was going to die was my distraction experience...fly the plane.
One of my favorite trails near Sedona is the West Fork Trail of Oak Creek. It follows the canyon upstream and you cross the creek multiple times. The trailhead is a couple miles north of town. Been there last fall and all the yellow and red colored leaves were just gorgeous! I love how Sedona is right at the point where the desert climate from the Phoenix valley transitions more and more into forest which gets denser the higher up in elevation you go towards Flagstaff. Also, make sure to get some candy at the Sedona Fudge Company while you’re there!
I love that trail - we hiked it on a previous trip. Good call!
I trained in Florida and we always had the door open until just before take off to cool the cabin. My instructor told me that eventually I'll forget to latch it, but don't worry - just fly the plane. It will be noisy and you'll lose a bit of performance, but the plane will fly just fine. A few weeks later on a solo he was right and I forogt to close the door. I finished the take off, stabilized the plane and finally reached over and closed it while sending good thoughts to my instructor for preparing me for this.
Yup. 1997 at FZY. Cessna 150 my door un-latched and popped open an inch or so on rotation. Automatic reaction ... "Fly the plane". Completed 1 lap in pattern, full stop landing, shut and latched my door and took off. (of course announced intentions on unicom) Great day.
Its so instructional sharing your videos with us that you do. I have had on several occasions not latched a door properly and yes no big deal. But, admittingly I thought the jacket would have been a good idea. Amazing how quickly it got sucked out and the pronounced effect it has on the flight characteristics. Its one of these smaller incidences that makes it so valuable to be able to see the results. Hats off to you for keeping your cool. Adds a lot to the pilot tool set. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for the comment. I was also super surprised that the jacket got out such a tiny opening. It was like an octopus finding its way through a tiny hole if you've ever seen a video of that...
watching this, all i could think was, the cinematography on this is amazing. Come for the flying enjoy .. well everything else...
Thanks so much. This one was really a labor of love inspired by the beauty of Sedona and the fun we have there.
This should be a promotional video on Sedona cause I really wanna visit now lmao
Had my door pop open during a flight when I had my CFI with me - totally distracted me at takeoff, and thankfully my instructor told me what should have been obvious: it isn't even remotely critical right now, just continue, fly the plane. Thanks to that I know how I'll handle it if it happens when I'm not in a training scenario.
Wow okay then! I've not had a door pop open, but your video affirmed what I have a habit of doing, which is reach over and push on the door myself. I also know from experience (I fly Warriors) that sometimes the latches just won't catch, usually the upper one, unless you pull on the door shut. So I'm always checking on the doors to confirm that my passenger got it secure.
Thank you for sharing the video! I must admit I felt the stress of the moment, and even thought about having her let go of the jacket, BUT did not consider what may happen if that heavy jacket hit the stabilator at 100mph! So good catch!
yeah I'm glad she didn't listen to me when I encouraged her to let it go!
I had the same thing happen in a PA-28-140. An old Cherokee 140 back in the early 70's while flying out of Melbourne, Florida. My biggest rememberence was trying to communicate over the Radio due to the cabin noise. Landed at Lakeland and the local FBO helped me with the door.
Oh yeah it gets quite a bit noisier when the door pops open. The noise alone can be very distracting.
When I was a student pilot, the right window of the 172 would have a tendancy to pop open in flight. It actually provided my CFI and I an opportunity to talk about the "what-if" of distractions. Still scared me the first time it flew open.
Had the door on the Arrow pop open just like that leaving KCWF a few years back with my young son in the right seat. Usually happens right after rotation like mine and from what I've been told. Just got noisy, told tower I needed to make a closed pattern and land. Your video really proves that doing anything with the door just has the potential to make things worse. Better to just accept the noise and cold and make it back to the runway to deal with it on the ground. Thanks for the video proof of what happens and can happen. Thankful that you were able to get it back to Sedona before that coat affected the stabilator.
Yeah we definitely learned from this one. I've had the door open a bit on solo flights and I just leave it. Actually feels kind of good in the summer but it's noisy AF!
Over the years I have had a few doors pop open and they always got treated as a non-event ,no big deal. Flew the plane and depending on the plane, shut the door when appropriate or left it open. First flight lesson on tail wheel in a champ, shortly after take off door popped open and we flew around for an hour with an open door. stating the obvious, your open door was not a problem, just a nu-sense. the attempt to fix that lead to a problem. glad it ended well. many pilots have dented the dirt trying to fix a nu-sense and didn't live to tell anyone. Oh and sweet ride.
Went flying with my brother and his girlfriend a few weeks back in a C-182. I was enjoying the scenery here in New Mexico and looking for traffic when I faintly heard the girl friend say to my brother "I'm kinda warm, can you crack open the window?" Which he dutifully did just before I could yell "NO!". When that window popped open, they both jumped like a fire cracker was under 'em. As the tears of laughter were falling, I told my brother to pull the window closed and asked if he'd lost anything out the window. He turned to me, white as a sheet, and shook his head, but showed me that he'd been holding brand new iPhone. I've updated my passenger briefing to include not touching anything, including doors and windows.
Great videos, really love that your family enjoys traveling with you.
That's a great idea to update the passenger briefing! Sometimes we get stuck in our ways and forget we can change things as we learn...
I just love the family bond you have and how your wife puts her trust in you awesome
Thanks!
I’m glad that coat didn’t hit the horizontal stabilizer! It seems like I’ve seen several videos about this aircraft having door issues!
very true- i'm glad too. I think all the old airplanes have a tendency to have some door alignment issues but in this case it just wasn't properly latched.
My FIRST discovery flight, door popped open while over the ocean @KSBA.
2 years later I'm a CFI/CFII.
(did most training at KVNY & KCMA).
Oh wow on the first flight over the ocean! You'll never forget that one. Do you enjoy being a CFI/CFII?
I was getting my complex at KSBA in January and the door popped open right over the ocean in takeoff as well. Definitely something I won’t forget and a good thing to triple check hahaha
@@SoCalFlyingMonkey Yes I do find being a CFI/CFII to be very rewarding. It's a fun gig - now obviously instructing is not for everyone. You got to have patience and that desire to be a good teacher.
I got plenty of stories of crappy instructors from me being a student or even recently seeing some instructors like "How are you still instructing?"
I've had a door open on a Cherokee 180. We turned around and landed. Luckily no vibration, but I guess that was the coat. Weird how it got sucked out like that. Glad you guys were OK. I've also had a door open on a C172, again, just turned around and landed. // I enjoyed your little family vacation, thanks for taking us along.
Yeah that jacket did some weird aerodynamic stuff for sure because normally an open door is such a non- event in this airplane.
Had a tailwind at 4000 ft climbing in my A36 doing 190 over ground when my door popped open! It sounded like my engine had blown up, all of my papers were sucked out the door, it was very chaotic looking but the first thing I did, fortunately was check my instruments and fly the plane! Returned to my RDU base, landed and took off again immediately. Was a very scary experience but prepared me for another pop open ON TAKEOFF in GRBO but early enough to set it back down on the active runway.
I've had doors come open flying Cessnas (172 and 182) but never in the Cherokee Six. I do know that our door seal isn't thick enough, and once we're at speed the door is pulled outward enough that if the person in the right seat has long hair, it can end up out through the aft door seal area and be on the outside of the plane. It's great that you had the multiple camera angles to be able to capture all of that so well, and to show the horizontal stab moving in the disturbed airflow. Well done. And I loved the reindeer.
I used to see her hair out the front door but I very recently re-rigged the door with new eyebolt, washers and clevis pins and the seal is a lot better. But not if you don’t engage the bottom pin on the strike plate!
I had a open door once on a 56nm trip, we where on a Piper Seneca V, it was almost right after take off but we decided to keep going. In this cases as you said its very important no to loose focus and keep flying the plane. Nice Channel, already subscribed. GREETINGS FROM GUATEMALA, CENTRAL AMERICA!
Thanks for sharing! And thanks for subscribing - I have not been to Guatemala (yet!)
@@SoCalFlyingMonkey you should visit! Nice place for flying and tourism like Tikal and Antigua, if you do give me a buzz!
I've been to Sedona many times. In fact, my little granddaughter is named Sedona, too. Flew into that great little airport in a Bonanza. Took off to the west and the plane wouldn't climb. I thought it was the heat. Did my checks and discovered that I was flying on one mag. Never made that mistake again. I also had a door issue with an instructor. He failed to close the door tightly so we just went around and landed again. So I now double check the doors and the mags.
Theres almost nothing worse than the feeling of an anemic climb rate when you need a good one.
About a week ago myself and my Father in Law, who has been a pilot for over 20 years, we’re testing the new throttle cable install on a Beechcraft Bonanza VTail that he acquired.
I have spent about 6-8 hours training in this aircraft.
On the way back south from a short 20 minute trip and full stop. I realized that we were getting a lot of noise inside of the aircraft.
He looked to his right and realized the door was not latched properly.
We just focused on flying and got plane down on the ground without incident.
I watched your video about a week before this happened.
Your calm and cool demeanor really showed me what to do. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
So glad the video was helpful in some way!
I had a 1967 Piper Arrow for 5 years. Twice I took off with door not shut tight. The first time I flew to my destination less than an hour, little noisy but that’s all. 2nd time figured it out right after t/o and circled back to land and resolve. Neither time was chaotic, just a nuisance. Also had cargo door come ajar on another flight 5 minutes before arrival to destination airport. All 3 times had passengers & none freaked out! Thank God!
sounds like you easily handled it. The open door seems to be a very common event!
Flew with a friend (I was safety pilot) to get a tour of the Allentown, Pa tower. On the way, we had an alternator failure. Flying home after the tour, we needed to do some scud running and at the same time realized the pilot door was not fully closed on our C172. Wasn't the best flying experience I've had, but it was my 40th birthday and my wife gave me a surprise party that night. So, it ended well!
It also opened the door during takeoff on a Cherokee six but my Flight Instructor was in the right seat so i had no problem, but its good to know that even a jacket can cause an accident, im glad everything turned fine and your family its ok.
Awesome Videos!
me too! Thank you for the support
It turned out to be a great experience for me. On the first take off in a set of circuits which was planned to include my first solo in a Cessna 152 the door blew open upon rotation. Was great to have my instructor sat by my side, calmly explaining that these things happen and that the priority was to maintain airspeed and runway heading and that we would sort out the door problem at an appropriate time. It put my mind at ease that I would be capable of maintaining the same level of calm if that occurred on my own. Thanks for the video! Props to Poppins for hanging on to the jacket. There was a horrible accident in Wanaka New Zealand a couple of years ago where a Carhart jacket was sucked out of the door of a small helicopter and got tangled up in the rotor blades killing one of the children of Tim Wallis (a famous aviator from the region). Both the families history and that accident are worth looking up for interest.
152 doors are crap - I've had them pop many times. I always give them a good shove with my shoulder before start.
Hi from Germany, absolutely brilliant videos!! This one with Sedona really got us! We been there 2018 after the Heli Expo, and actually spent some time at some of the same places! Really amazing place !
You are doing a brilliant job with your videos! I like the way how you enjoy the opportunities you have with your family!
As a commercial Helicopter Pilot I am just converting to the Fixed Wing World to actually use it more with my family! I am looking forward to see more from you and your family!! Cheers
Guten tag! :) Thanks for the comment. I hope you enjoyed Sedona as much as we have. Just can;t wait to go back. Good luck on your fixed wing flight training. It is probably a lot easier than helicopters!
This video earned my sub. It's more like a professionally made video than it is a vlog. Bravo!
Thanks for the sub! Hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel. Another video that is most similar to this is our Paragliding adventure in Santa Barbara..so you may enjoy that one as well.
Was in a Civil Air Patrol GA8 doing some mission training. Sliding door came ajar during takeoff and actually broke off the bottom rail. We landed fine and fixed the door.
I have had it happen a couple of times in an Arrow and a Cherokee Six. It is possible to close them in flight. The first thing is to secure loose objects, then slow to a few knots above stall with full flap on. Open the pilots clear view window, release the top latch and quickly open the door and slam it shut. Close the top latch and clean up the aircraft then resume normal flight. Opening the clear view window is the crucial bit as it slightly reduces the pressure in the cabin and allows the door to close.
Thanks for the tip! I think I'll try practicing this on a calm clear day.
had the gull wing door pop open in a cessna 162 when my instructor forgot to latch the door. almost lost an Ipad out the door. pulled power to idle so he could reach out and shut it.
Oh man that would have been a bummer!
My parents lived in the Verde Valley. I got to spend a lot of time in Sedona taking my step mom around. I had a lot of fun exploring the area.
My first heli flight was over Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, when my door flew open. My first thought was "great, my photos will be better" then I thought "the pilot may want me to close the door", so I did the right thing and pulled it closed.
Flying back from AUN to LVK in a Cesna 172 my passenger mentioned that my door wasn't closed. I've driven a Jeep for years and sometimes the soft doors just pop open. Also, driving with the doors off is pretty natual too, so I just reached my right hand over to the door and popped it shut. My passenger was amazed at how calm I was, but in a Jeep or a Cesna it's not big deal.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Great job everyone for staying calm and executing an appropriate response!
Thanks!
My door on a 152 popped open at least a half dozen times during flight training. Not a big deal if you let it be. Much better to ignore the minor issue, land, and fix the door.
I had the door opened on my Cherokee 180 one time. If you trim for slow flight, you can open the door and slam it and latch it again while in flight. Just for future reference.
great tip thank you!
Love your videos and I love even more that you do this all with your family
Thank you so much!
that sure looks like a learning experience to not get complacent about simple things like closing the doors! looks like that got scary quick.
A nice reminder for what to do when I take the kids up-great videos and inspiration!!!
Awesome! Thank you!
If you watch at 10:25 you can see something flapping from the bottom of the door. Could that have had anything to do with why the door would not latch? And good on her for not letting that jacket go because that absolutely could have caused issues with the stabilizer.
After my wife and I owned our plane for nearly 2 years, she was so good at helping me pack it, that it seemed silly not to give her an extra key so that I could open the front door, while she could open the baggage door. Dropped her off at KWHP that afternoon on our way home from SF, then headed to Palm Springs. Soon as I landed, got the call from the FBO - "70A, there appears to be something flapping on the side of your aircraft..." baggage door key is stubborn, it seems.
I have seen some of your videos, and your landings look so smooth man! I truly enjoy your videos. My son and I just started Ground School and our dream is to do like you're doing, enjoying the skies and taking family trips.
During my flight training my instructors door on a Cessna 150 popped open on downwind. Scared me as I had no clue what to do. Didn't seam to phase him at all, he just shut it, looked at me and laughed. This happened after an hour of flying. Other times I've had a luggage door with a bad latch that would pop open when landing so after a few touch and goes someone on the radio would inform us of the open baggage door. So far after getting my PPL I have not had such an experience.
Of course we also once forgot to close the door of our PA28-181 and started to fly slower because you can close your door again during flight at a certain speed. A tip is that you can take a look in your Pilot Operating Handbook because it contains the speed at which you can close your door during the flight.
Just stumbled across this channel today and already a huge fan! Keep it up!
Hey my name is Indy, I'm 22 living here in California. Just wanted to say I really like watching your videos. I took my first flight last year and I've had a bug for flying ever since. Came across your videos and now I want to look into getting my private pilots license. If you have any tips or info i should know I'd like to know, your wife is a legend for saving the jacket too.
There may be scholarship opportunities for young aviators. Search up aviation explorers and see what the age cut offs are and it may lead you to some other resources. Start ground school online and find a good instructor that you connect with. Thanks for watching!
Used to live in Sedona. Took flying lessons at that airport for a while. Flew out over the meteor crater on the way to the Winslow Airport nearby. I assume you've done that, but if you haven't, it's worth going back just for that experience. I also climbed and camped on the very top of Bell Rock with two friends. I brought what I needed to make cappuccino up there for us all the next morning and blew their minds. On the way down we saved a tourist who had gotten in over his head on the climb and dislocated his shoulder. We rigged a harness for him and lowered him on our equipment ropes. Not a bad adventure.
Wow camping atop Bell Rock sounds amazing. My kids love that place- all they want to do is go there and climb. I hope they don't end up like the guy you had to rescue! Never flown over Meteor Crater but it sounds great - I will keep it in mind. I have been there a couple times on the ground and it is cool.
awesome ADM. You are the PIC of that flight and no matter what your pax want, what you say goes. I guess when it is family you are flying with, that PIC decision making is harder to pass on. The more you make your family familiar with the regulations and knowledge of flying airplanes the more you can rely on them as crew members!
Great points here. We have since had a chat about PIC authority while reviewing the video.
Open door. Luckily in the pattern. No big deal at all... glad I didn’t have a jacket flapping! Nice work.
Thanks 👍
This is why your a pilot
Your so good at it
Great video. Almost died in Sedona on a backpacking trip, but that’s a different story. Open doors are part of flying. Fly long enough, it will happen. I’ve had several times where long pieces of clothing get caught in the door in the winter. 1. Never try to close it. It just won’t work. 2. It’s not that big of a deal. 3. Go land at your origin airport. 4. On low IMC days triple check it. Taking off, identifying the problem, programming in a return approach, and landing in a high workload environment is a terrible idea. Great job!
I hope I never have an open door in IMC flying. That would NOT be fun...
It's funny I did the same thing with my Father in Law and two passengers, trusted him to secure the door and it wasn't - no coat, no buffeting but still in the end made me a better pilot, even if I was mad at myself for a while :)
Great video! I had the door on my Cherokee 235 pop open on my first solo! Talk about nuts. All I could hear was my CFI telling me to "Fly the airplane!" as if he were sitting right next to me. Turned out to be completely uneventful...but not something you want to experience in that setting. Great job - love your videos!!
Glad you handled that well- a lot of people wouldnt have been able to do that on their first solo!
Hi all .... I'm glad you guys handled the open door situation. We had. Piper archer for years (88 - 2005) and yes we too had open door situations. What we did -to fix it was have my wife lean into me and I push the door open 3 inches or so and pulled it shut tight and then
latch it - easy peasy! As you build time and familiarization you'll use your checklist less and less ... this s the real problem. As PIC we cannot ask wives and kids to confirm systems .... I.e., the door and the latch. The more disciplined a pilot can be with the checklists the safer you'll fly. After learning these lessons I always flew as if I were on a check ride with an imaginary check-ride pilot. Just suggesting ... love your videos - they trigger many memories of N4483F. From the rebuild, new interior and paint etc .... enjoy and fly safe!
Good suggestions thank you!
Great Videos. Learned over many years of flying and a few open doors, The pilot should always close and latch the door. Once we adhered to that, never had the problem again.
Beautiful flying family movie. Congrats and keep the family flying.
Thanks for the encouragement!
Double date to go get dinner and a night on the town. C172, and the PAX Door pops half way to the destination. I made sure my date was belted in and nothing near the door that would fall out. Slowed down to MCA (minimum control not cruise). Put handle in the full open position. Kicked right rudder and kept level while pushing and then pulling the door closed and let go of the rudder. Then latched it. Did it all without any excitement. Date was amazed and stayed vary awake on the way back. It is amazing how the cruising slip stream will open the door about 1/2 an inch but then it is nearly impossible to move either way.
Sedona is one of the most beautiful places in the country. Getting close to my PPL out of Phoenix. Cannot wait to fly up there someday!
It is really a great place to fly and then not far from the Grand Canyon. Just study up on the airport before you go (on a mesa so expect downdrafts, sloping runway, etc)
Great job staying calm and in control. Big fan, love how you bring family and flying together. Actually about the door I noticed on multiple videos that exact door seemed to me no shut property, if you look at video of Close Call going to KIZA. Just as you taking off door looks not totally flushed with fuselage. Minute 2 of video
Yeah I replaced the hardware (eyebolts and clevis pins) and moved the strike plate to make it as tight as possible. I think that's as good as it's going to get. It doesn't look flush but is all the way closed. Just a high time airframe door...
Good job staying calm and flying the plane. Had an open door in a pa32 as well, unfortunately it was a broken top latch so we had to fly with the door cracked open from Napa back to Van Nuys and it was not fun. I didn’t have the problem you had with the flutter on the stabilizer so I felt ok to keep flying.
Oh yeah the open door can be really annoying because it is super loud and can be really cold. In the SoCal summer though I once had the door slightly open and it was super nice because it was much cooler. :) The The PA32 will fly fine with the door closed, slightly open, or off completely but if you hang a jacket out in the slipstream apparently not! Haha
Had a door open on an IMC departure out of KSMO in a Warrior for a short flight to KMYF. Going back for an approach to the field with possible holding and delay was not an attractive option - so I told my passenger we could keep going if he was ok with it. Luckily he agreed. Once level at cruising altitude, we were able to get the door closed by yawing the plane. You did a great job getting it back with that coat fluttering in the slipstream. That must have been pretty unnerving.
It was definitely unnerving as the plane was shuddering. When we have had open door issues we have never been able to get the door closed again but I need to try slow flight and yawing a bit. I think we could do it like you said...
I've had a door pop mores than once in different planes. In many cases (if the pax has some strength) it can be resecured depending on the latch mechanism, but safest bet is to do what you did and land.
Great content and looking forward to meeting you some day.
Two great trails: 1. Wilson Mtn, not difficult, but takes a while- the payoff is the view at the end (peak) of the trail; 2. Devil’s Bridge- sensational hike although some is over rock & if you don’t find the cairns you one can easily get off-trail.
Thanks so much for the trail suggestions. We can't wait to go back!
Sure did! Happened to me once in a Beech Baron 25+years ago. Both I and my CFI had never flown a Baron before and it’s the only plane left on a tarmac. So we just jumped in and went on to accumulate my flight hours. As soon as we’re airborne the door popped open and my flight instructor hold on for dear life fearing that it would came off and hit the tail (the shape of the door might had something to do with the strong force trying to pull the door outwards). I made a 180 and landed on to the the oppose runway.
25+ years later and 25,000+ hours later (mostly on 777 and 787). This clip sure brings back the memories.
Good job!
Nice team work! that could have gotten real ugly very quickly. Safe adventures
The instructors at my flight school popped the doors open on us regularly during our pre solo flight training. Kept us on our toes!
Beautiful family, Nice airplane. AWESOME !
Thank you very much!
Some wholesome content right here.
Just excellent video editing. Amazing how that coat caused the Stabilator to oscillate so quickly.
I was surprised when I first reviewed the footage and spotted it. Couldn't believe it would do that just because the airflow was disrupted.
I had that once, couple of month back. Its scary, but i continued to fly the plane and landed safe. Good check before take off is high prio now on my list.
And a John Muir fan too... Awesome content man! I had the canopy suck open in a Sportcruiser once, after one pilot wrecked one at the end of the runway because of it. You did it right. Thanks for the inspiration. Sedona is next for the wife and I!
It is so amazing there. I hope you enjoy it!
Just a tip from someone who flight instructed in pipers for a couple years, pop your breather window open and it will relieve the pressure on the door and usually allow it to be closed. Sorry if someone already said this. Blue Skies!
great tip thanks!
Same job, same passion...loved it!
A Big Texas HELLO!!! Glad you guys made it safe.
We got one of our student's that was scared of flying. The first flight he did in the left seat, while banking left, the door of the Cessna 152 opened. He never flew again
When we started to roll, I need to do a checklist saying “power available, speed alive, no alerts, continue”. My CFI used to open the window of the C172 during the take-off roll to check my reactions... If I kept on flying while the window was open, it meant that I wasn’t paying attention. :-)
Man, I love your videos - and I feel like I am learning a lot from them! It's a similar dream I have planned with my wife (although she's just as sketch about small planes, so have some convincing to do). Watching this one - my palms were definitely sweaty, but you kept it all focused on landing safely. From one SoCal local to another - let's hit the 405 to the 101 through the Pass :)
I really believe that this flight is worthy of a full-and-complete debrief (so that you can understand the decisions that were made; how those led you into the situation that you were in, and; how that scenario could have been avoided [by employing better ADM]).
Flying the old Bell Ranger 206 trainers, the doors would open all the time when practicing approaches. In a helicopter, though, you can slow down enough to close it in the air.
Had a window pop open on initial departure climb in a Cessna 150. A very loud bang followed by an increased noise level was definitely a distraction!
Oh yeah the Cessna windows seem to like to pop open!