Ive removed the pilots door and have been flying on a few nice evenings. I’m curious what the top speed is with a door removed? I’ve been keeping below 80mph and it’s been great. I know this has been posted before but I can’t find it. Thanks

I believe it's 109 kts

Probably depends on which model you have, but on my M-6, the Airplane Flight Manual (which I downloaded from MauleAirInc.com) has a short section under Normal Operations titled Door-Off Operation. It lists the door combinations which may be removed, and various other operational limitations. The speed shown for mine is 125 mph. (EDIT: just now saw and verified the other post that we can't download an AFM from MauleAirInc.com anymore - very disappointing)

M7 Flight Manual:
- 109K or 125 MPH
- max 30 degrees of bank
- max 10 degrees of yaw
- no smoking
- limit flight to VFR conditions

Thanks for the info.

I wonder why the bank and yaw restrictions. Why not both front doors. I had a kitfox that was best with both doors off. Alot slower but...

crossflow air through cabin when landing or taking off compromises the lift at wing roots and outbound. Think crosswind and the aircraft is going straight.
Besides all the candy wrappers, plastic bottles, paper charts etc will blow out the downwind door hole.
One can experience a mild form of this with both swing windows open and also sense the loss of lift .

Interesting

When I used to fly Robinson helicopters you could fly with both doors off in the summer. Then a paper chart blew out of the cockpit into the tail rotor due to crosswind and caused a fatal accident. Robinson didn't want to be liable so they added a requirement to the operating guide that both doors be closed in flight. There's no tail rotor on a Maule but there's a remote possibility that something blown out of the cockpit could lodge in the rudder or elevator and hinder its operation. No point in taking a chance.

andy wrote:When I used to fly Robinson helicopters you could fly with both doors off in the summer. Then a paper chart blew out of the cockpit into the tail rotor due to crosswind and caused a fatal accident. Robinson didn't want to be liable so they added a requirement to the operating guide that both doors be closed in flight. There's no tail rotor on a Maule but there's a remote possibility that something blown out of the cockpit could lodge in the rudder or elevator and hinder its operation. No point in taking a chance.

I wouldn't think that a piece of paper...even a folded up chart...could cause a crash.

Looks like it was unsecured jackets, headsets and life vests that caused the accidents rather than a paper chart based on this article: https://blog.aopa.org/aopa/2015/04/22/doors-off-flying/

I still wouldn't want to take a chance on a paper chart getting fouled up in the tail rotor. It wouldn't take much to lose tail rotor effectiveness.

I could believe the distraction of the chart blowing out and the pilot looking back at it could have caused the crash. Just look how many plane crashes there have been over the years just from a door latch coming undone and a door popping ajar. Just sayin.

Scott

Have flow with Seaplane Doors and with rear doors off. 120mph no issues

https://vimeo.com/3696042

Hottshot wrote:Have flow with Seaplane Doors and with rear doors off. 120mph no issues

https://vimeo.com/3696042

A little off topic...but is there any issues flying without the spinner?

Stinger wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 21, 2020 1:49 pm

Hottshot wrote:Have flow with Seaplane Doors and with rear doors off. 120mph no issues

https://vimeo.com/3696042

A little off topic...but is there any issues flying without the spinner?

No real issues, possibly cooling if in the right conditions.