Anyone flying a series 5 without doors and turtle deck

[Randy]

Anyone flying a series 5 without doors ? Wondering if it would be better to take the turtle deck off or leave it on.

[vetdrem]

I fly my model 3 without the doors, and have often thought about removing the turtle deck, but haven't.
I was worried about overpressurizing the inside of the fuslage and tail with the air coming over the cockpit. A cover could be made to eliminate that worry.

Then I started worrying about the loss of lift provided by the turtle deck and the disruption of the aerodynamics caused by removing it. I am sure that these effects are minimal, but I need to WORRY about it a little longer.

I still think that it is a great idea, and I will probably do it, but it may take a while for me to get the guts.

Louie

[ackselle]

I often fly my IV without doors (and often open the doors during flight). It's a real treat to fly around low and slow with the wind at your side! But I've always left my turtle deck on.

Cheers,
Ackselle

[BigJohn]

I have flown my 5 with one and both doors open with no issue's, I do try to keep it under 100 when doing so as the Turtle Deck does rattle but no issues.

[Agfoxflyer]

This was a few years ago. I remember talking to a Series 5 pilot about when the turtle deck departed his aircraft in flight. He said it significantly changed the flight characteristics. The doors were closed.

[Randy]

I think I will leave the turtle deck on. I don't make a good guinea pig.(LOL).It gets pretty hot and humid down here in the summer time so I think I'll give it a try with the doors open and keep it under 100 mph. If that goes well,I may try removing the doors and see how that goes.

[n85ae]

I flew mine with doors off, it's noisy and unnerving to me. I could never get
comfortable so I put them back on. Only time I ever felt fear of height
flying ... Scared the cr*p out of me. I'm fine in a cub, etc. with open
windows, but the empty air by my hip ... No thanks. All I could think about
was seat belt being loose.

I have a center brace in my turtledeck that attaches via adel clamps to
the tube the shoulder harness tabs are welded on so no worries about turtle
deck rattle or pop-off.

Regards,
Jeff

N85AE - Series 5, IO-240B

[Rmendler]

I flew mine with doors off, it's noisy and unnerving to me. I could never get
comfortable so I put them back on. Only time I ever felt fear of height
flying ... Scared the cr*p out of me. I'm fine in a cub, etc. with open
windows, but the empty air by my hip ... No thanks. All I could think about
was seat belt being loose.

I have a center brace in my turtledeck that attaches via adel clamps to
the tube the shoulder harness tabs are welded on so no worries about turtle
deck rattle or pop-off.

Regards,
Jeff

N85AE - Series 5, IO-240B

Perhaps I'm biased but I really prefer flying without doors other then some interference with the radio.

I'm biased because I have a couple hundred helicopter hours and we had to have the doors off to land on an elevated helipad with a large hole in the center. I had to hang out the right door just to double check the skid was within a piece of duct tape before I lowered the collective, otherwise we could drop a skid in the hole and roll over. It was fun!!!

It also lets you know when your in trim, if the wind is batting you in the face then put a little pedal in there. This is important since most single engine helicopters just have a string tied to the nose as a turn coordinator, haha. If the string moves right, add left and vice versa