How An Airplane Door Hinge Works

Place the hinge in the recess and mark where the screws will sit.

How an airplane door hinge works.

A plug door is a door designed to seal itself by taking advantage of pressure difference on its two sides and is typically used on aircraft with cabin pressurization the higher pressure on one side forces the usually wedge shaped door into its socket making a good seal and preventing it from being opened until the pressure is released non plug doors rely on the strength of the locking. These types of hinges work on a vacuum system so that when you open the door a plunger sucks air out of a chamber the loss of this air creates a vacuum. The label aerospace hinge is actually a general heading that incorporates an array of specialty hinges geared for respective aerospace applications. When you let go of the door the vacuum pulls the plunger back into the empty space closing the door.

Work slowly and continually check that the hinge will comfortably sit in the recess. Many pressurized aircraft have the type of plug doors that open by first swinging inside rotating about at least two axes then moving through the opening and ending up outside parallel with the fuselage. It s quite interesting how many varied roles hinges play in the aerospace arena more than most people probably realize.