Unless I'm mistaken, Bob bought or licensed the rights to use an M17 deck mold (among other molds) that included a hatch designed to hinge forward. Possible Bob changed that, but because the deck is molded to include raised mounting areas for the hinges, I doubt it. Perhaps Bob will correct me if I'm wrong... I believe that Jerry changed the configurations on the newer deck mold (what...post '82?) because of concerns that some fool (you know who you are) would drive down the interstate and the unsecured hatch would blow off and crash through some guy's windshield. I imagine he changed the sliding hatch from a design that allowed it to lift off to the present captured version for the same reason. I doubt those changes had anything to do with legislation but rather with litigation. Since most M17s live on trailers and get towed places, it probably wasn't a bad idea. So let's blame Jerry for protecting us from ourselves, not the government. Don't get me wrong, I personally love to bash the government (even though I'm currently suckling at the government teat myself on a very sweet 6-month contract). After almost 8 years of breathtaking incompetence, who wouldn't? BTW, I've found the open hatch on our M17 provides more than enough ventilation regardless of which way it's hinged--it's better a sucking air out than blowing it in anyway. tom