Powered outward-opening cargo door

Abstract

An outward-opening, plug-type cargo door for an aircraft is movable between a closed position and an open position in which the door is spaced from the cargo bay opening in a canopy orientation above and outboard of the cargo bay opening. The door hinges are directly driven by irreversible rotary actuators such that the weight of the door cannot back-drive the actuators. The door must be powered to the opened and closed positions thereby eliminating the necessity of a strut to prop the door open when cargo is being loaded and unloaded. The rotary actuators are mounted to the aircraft structure independently of the hinge mechanism's attachment to the aircraft structure so that the actuators can be removed and replaced if necessary without disturbing the hinge mechanism or door linkage. The hinge linkage has been simplified to provide fewer parts for the linkage. The door is manually unlatched from either the interior or exterior of the aircraft through a dual handle system. A spring-biased pawl assembly is mounted on the door and coacts with a latch crank to prevent movement of the handle to the latched position when the door is spaced from the cutout opening. The spring-biased pawl cooperates with a cam surface associated with the cutout opening to permit movement of the handle to the latched position once the door is in the cutout opening.