Garry,
You said:
> My Europa was completed in 1999 and the struts are per the original
instructions............mounted in the upper aft corner of the door.
Thank you for letting me know. My thoughts were that with the original
attachment (as I understand yours is), there is considerable mechanical
advantage around the gas strut attach point such that when the door is
forced upwards when the strut is fully extended, the rear hinge is
placed under a lot of load.
With the higher position of the attach point as it is with the alternate
positioning of the strut, the load on the rear hinge would be markedly
reduced under the same conditions.
In relation to your comment about the door buckling from the constant
pressure of the strut, I elected to adopt Ted Gladstone's lever idea
which completely eliminates all forces on the door when the door is
closed. This mod however, is not the easiest thing to do but I'm very
happy I did it. Just recently, a friend of mine who now has his Europa
ready to fly, showed me a gas strut he bought locally over here which in
its collapsed state is shorter than the Europa strut and is also longer
in its extended state. This allows it to be fitted in the alternate
position with its lower end further outboard effecting a better
mechanical advantage when the door is open. I.e.. it holds the door
open better. This may be an easy and economical way to overcome both
your problems . . . . . I repeat - maybe !
If you are interested in this strut my friend found, let me know and
I'll get the details for you.
Regards
Kingsley
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