A few days ago I lost the hatch to the Pulse XT 60 in flight, lost in an inaccessible forest off the field proper. Irrecoverable. Horizon won't sell just the hatch, I would have to buy the entire fuse for $139. I decided I needed to try to build one. I have repaired wings, fuses, but I haven't built a substantial part like the hatch. I think I did pretty good. I made a few decisions that I wouldn't next time, but all in all, I did good.
The baseframe. I chose a wider piece of wood than was optimal for the sides, and they were a bit unmatched in the angle when glued in, but I went with it. The hardest past was going to be the curved surfaces, but that turned out to be easy. Used the fuse as the template and jigsawed the pieces, then sanded them down.
Three stingers.
In the front end I used a 4mm bolt as a peg to fix the front to the firewall.
Thin moldable basswood sheet in two halves. I did this becasue I wasn't sure I could fold a large piece over the frame. This concern made no sense. I would use one full piece next time. Used 30 min epoxy and let is stay clamped overnight.
SHeeting the other half.
Fit perfectly! after sanding. There was no hump, smooth,contoured.
Inside after sheeting.
Outside after sheeting.
Perfect cote work!
I wanted to do something besides a soring loaded latch, so I used a pair of helicoter control rods. There are two wood pins inside the aft corners to prevent lateral movment.
Sweet. After a bit in certain light there is a small hump at the middle of the fore end. The there is a small gap on this side at the back corner. All in all though, I did good!
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