My Kis Cruiser - Door Handle Install

N247BR

Doors Preparation - Door Handle

I have broken the door preparation into several sections to keep the individual pages smaller and give some logical sections.

One thing I noticed during my previous experiences with flying the Cruiser was the difficulty in closing the doors. It is not that the doors are hard to pull shut but there was nothing to grab to pull the door down. I thought about putting some sort of handle in the armrest but didn't like the idea. I felt the armrest would not be strong enough and wanted something easier to grab.

I have a handle above the door in my car which gave me the idea to see if I could find a light weight and functional handle. I spent a couple of hours in the local auto graveyard, extracted several different handles before finding the set I was looking for. An old Lincoln Town Car yielded a pair of good looking light weight handles. A bit of work on a couple of 1/4 inch plywood squares and I had the necessary mounts.

After bonding the plywood mounts to the inside of the door, the handle mounts on the inside just like in the car. I even managed to maintain the same trim and get them to fit tight to the door panel. They work great and are positioned just behind the arm of the pilot or co-pilot.
Oh yes, I almost forgot...the cost of the handles was ZIP, nada, free. The guy at the scrap yard was amazed that anyone would want them, especially for an airplane and gave them to me.

The final install on the door following the painting and it looks good and works as intended. Still a bit high to reach but at least it give you something to grab hold of.

I have broken the door preparation into several sections to keep the individual pages smaller and give some logical sections.

	One thing I noticed during my previous experiences with flying the Cruiser was the difficulty in closing the doors. It is not that the doors are hard to pull shut but there was nothing to grab to pull the door down. I thought about putting some sort of handle in the armrest but didn't like the idea. I felt the armrest would not be strong enough and wanted something easier to grab.
	I have a handle above the door in my car which gave me the idea to see if I could find a light weight and functional handle. I spent a couple of hours in the local auto graveyard, extracted several different handles before finding the set I was looking for. An old Lincoln Town Car yielded a pair of good looking light weight handles. A bit of work on a couple of 1/4 inch plywood squares and I had the necessary mounts.
	After bonding the plywood mounts to the inside of the door, the handle mounts on the inside just like in the car. I even managed to maintain the same trim and get them to fit tight to the door panel. They work great and are positioned just behind the arm of the pilot or co-pilot. Oh yes, I almost forgot...the cost of the handles was ZIP, nada, free. The guy at the scrap yard was amazed that anyone would want them, especially for an airplane and gave them to me.
	The final install on the door following the painting and it looks good and works as intended. Still a bit high to reach but at least it give you something to grab hold of.