Doors:

You’ll learn quickly that Kalaeloa Airport is windy. When preflighting, students must be cognizant of the positon of aircraft doors once open. Upon initial arrival at the aircraft, you’ll want to open the door, open the windows (can be left open on ground with door open or closed) and from the outside, get situated. Whether you’re removing the gust lock, plugging in your headset, turning on the master switch, checking flaps and/or dropping off your items prior to your walk-around, the door will be open. If windy, the door will want to swing with the wind. You are expected to prevent this from happening by applying body pressure against the door to prevent this. When windy, try to manage the door but especially, don’t “walk away”.

The aircraft door only weighs approximately 15 pounds and in the right conditions, the door could hyper-extend and will require immediate maintenance, effectively grounding your flight. Maintenance will not be happy, students after you will not be happy and the repair could take two days minimum. Keep doors closed when conducting exterior inspection. Finally, when getting into the aircraft, students often have a tendency to leave the door open while making final preparations before engine start, If it isn’t windy, this is okay but if not, shut the door and open the window.