Pietenpol-List: Give me a Brake
Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 1:28 am
Original Posted By: Richard Carden
Subject: Pietenpol-List: Give me a Brake Ah, yes...the good ol' days, when I didn't have brakes (last spring), and things were much simpler. Now I have quite a few more things to check on pre-flight, items that might fail (if it ain't there, it can't fail), and I haveto carry this extra 6 or 7 pounds around on each flight. I use the brakes formaybe 30 or 40 seconds on each flight - mag drop / run - up, and a little stab here and there to taxi...that's it. I never use them to slow down. Therefore at first thought, it seems they are just not worth having, especiallyafter having oporated my plane without brakes for about 30 hours. It handled very well with the tail skid, and no brakes...as long as it was on the grass. Taxion the hard surface, and it was like a fish out of water...limited or no response to rudder input, and a small breeze on the tail would have its way. One of the squawks I had to take care of, was a leaking master cylinder, so I had to remove all the stuff under the front seat, and while I was in there, I cleaned, sanded, cleaned, sanded, cleaned and re-varnished the front pit. On the plus side, the oporation of the heel pedals, and break control is very good, and fairly comfortable. In conclusion, if you're going to do any cross country flying, where hard surface oporation is inevitable, brakes and a tailwheel is are required equipment, but they sure are a pain.Chuck GantzerNX770CGp.s. I have some really good digital pictures of my set up. If anyone wants to see them, just e-mail me direct, and I'll e-mail you the pictures.________________________________________________________________________________Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 06:17:18 -0400
Subject: Pietenpol-List: Give me a Brake Ah, yes...the good ol' days, when I didn't have brakes (last spring), and things were much simpler. Now I have quite a few more things to check on pre-flight, items that might fail (if it ain't there, it can't fail), and I haveto carry this extra 6 or 7 pounds around on each flight. I use the brakes formaybe 30 or 40 seconds on each flight - mag drop / run - up, and a little stab here and there to taxi...that's it. I never use them to slow down. Therefore at first thought, it seems they are just not worth having, especiallyafter having oporated my plane without brakes for about 30 hours. It handled very well with the tail skid, and no brakes...as long as it was on the grass. Taxion the hard surface, and it was like a fish out of water...limited or no response to rudder input, and a small breeze on the tail would have its way. One of the squawks I had to take care of, was a leaking master cylinder, so I had to remove all the stuff under the front seat, and while I was in there, I cleaned, sanded, cleaned, sanded, cleaned and re-varnished the front pit. On the plus side, the oporation of the heel pedals, and break control is very good, and fairly comfortable. In conclusion, if you're going to do any cross country flying, where hard surface oporation is inevitable, brakes and a tailwheel is are required equipment, but they sure are a pain.Chuck GantzerNX770CGp.s. I have some really good digital pictures of my set up. If anyone wants to see them, just e-mail me direct, and I'll e-mail you the pictures.________________________________________________________________________________Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 06:17:18 -0400