Originally Posted by
Ridger
The Mooney baggage door opens upward. The door geometry in the open position with respect to the airflow undoubtedly contributed to this incident. If the door had been hinged on the forward side it is extremely unlikely it would have come off.
Bad stuff happens and the take away on this is the same as for any open door
FLY THE AIRPLANE FIRST. It is notable that the pilots efforts to stay current and practice emergency procedures paid off when his day went bad.
This thread has drifted around a bit but a few comments on other matters
First I want to reiterate my early comments with respect to an instructor telling a student to abort a takeoff if a cabin door opens “because the door could fall off and hit the aircraft”. I think this is utter rubbish and needs to get stamped out now. As for every abnormal or emergency situation control of the airplane is the most important thing. If there is sufficient runway to come to a safe stop then obviously do that, sort the door and set up for a second takeoff attempt. If there is doubt about stopping then continue the takeoff fly a circuit land and sort the door.
However as I also specified, this advice is intended for the normal certified light aircraft found at flight schools and flying clubs. If you are flying some bizarre type like an ultralight helicopter or some sort of flying lawn furniture, then I would suggest a type specific evaluation of potential emergency situations is needed and a plan for each one is clear in your mind. This may involve rejecting every takeoff with an open door even if it means crashing off the end of the runway because the aircraft will be uncontrollable with an open door.
With respect to landing gear up for a forced approach, I should have been more specific. My advice to always land gear up was for types that had no specific direction in their POH. Obviously follow the POH advice first. However it should be noted that the POH advice, like that in Piper retractables usually starts with a caution that the pilot needs to evaluate every scenario. The reason for the recommendation for a gear up landing was to reduce the chance of the aircraft cartwheeling or overturning.
There are disadvantages to putting the gear down for a forced approach. In some airplanes, if the engine is seized the emergency gear lowering procedure would have to be used. I would suggest after the engine fails you have enough on your plate already. Also the extra drag of the gear will alter the glide flight path significantly. If you have the field nicely made I would suggest you not mess with success
Finally “Downwind Checks” should IMO be banished from the flight training lexicon and only the term “Prelanding Check” be used for the reasons pointed out by earlier posters.