B747 Upper Door (6L/6R) Operation?

Question

Hey Y'all,

I have a question about the doors on the Upper Deck of the B744 and B743 - the 'gull wing' one which opens upwards. Usually I think these are doors 6L and 6R (I operate on the B737 so not too sure of these things!)

Anyway, since this is an aircraft I'm interested in but have no experience on - I was wondering if any crew out there are familiar with the operation and arming of this door? I know how to operate the normal B737, B747 and B757 doors, but the upper deck ones I've never been trained on - or seen!

Thanks =)

Answer 1

When the door is armed, you just lift the handle and the door opens by itself and deploys the slide.  The battery and bottles used to open the door are above a ceiling panel between the doors.  There's a battery test switch above each door and a small window in the ceiling panel to check the bottle pressure.

When it's disarmed, you lift the handle which opens the door a few inches, then open the switch cover on the side and move the switch to the open position.  An electric motor opens the door the rest of the way.  The slide stays attached to the floor instead of the door like most other planes.  

The handle looks, moves similar to a 767 interior door handle.