Russ Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 have found on MANY occasion, remote grass strips are ruff as hell, tussucks seem to be the norm, strip is slashed as norm, but those tussocks develope ...hard as, so getting rid of ground speed is paramount......quick as. ( Mt Coolon being the most recent ...south of charters towers )
Guest Howard Hughes Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Brakes...ya don't need em if you got REVERSE!
alf jessup Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Might go and cut me brake lines since some say you don't need em on here Just wondering why manufacturers put on that extra weight when building the plane They should get on here and get all the expert advice first Merry Chrismas BTW 2 2 2
johnm Posted December 23, 2015 Author Posted December 23, 2015 true .................. you could also use a rock on the end of a piece of rope ........... as well ........... just discussing the technique of a landing, though
alf jessup Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 true .................. you could also use a rock on the end of a piece of rope ........... as well........... just discussing the technique of a landing, though Was just a tongue in cheek comment John nothing more 1
johnm Posted December 24, 2015 Author Posted December 24, 2015 no offence even remotely considered Alf
Kamloops Posted December 24, 2015 Posted December 24, 2015 Lots of helicopters have wheels instead of skids.....and do have brakes. ☺
Guest ozzie Posted December 25, 2015 Posted December 25, 2015 probably more like a big bottle of red for some
DrZoos Posted December 26, 2015 Posted December 26, 2015 My brakes are fantastic...hold completely at full power with handbrake or toe brakes and have very significant braking power as soon as the majority of weight load is on the wheels... not sure why yours wouldn't as every disc brake i have ever had, i have been able to get to perform well unless the pad becomes contaminated... Id suggest at least some of you may have contaminated pads,fluid or air/bubbles in the system... In my experience with lots of disc brakes which is reasonably significant, particularly with motor bikes and mountain bikes, id suggest most issues come from , not conditioning the brakes with initial use, poor bleeding, bubbles, contamination of fluid, mixing of incompatible fluids, oil or other contamination of pads (including general contamination from tarmac oils contained, particularly in water on the runway with initial rain showers). Im not including fade...just initial braking power... Fade from my experience has a lot more to do with the weight, duration and cooling capacity of the disc.... and is generally completely different to initial braking performance.. (having said that most that desing a setup with great cooling for said load , have a ton of initial braking performance) My discs are a joke and my calipers are pretty low grade materials, with no venitaltion, they are not straight and they are tiny and made from what looks like scrap tin... but when adjusted properly and bled properly I rarely find many disc brakes that are not fantastic for short durations... and i classify any normal landing scenario in a sub 600kg aircraft as short duration... unless the brakes are significantly under engineered...and i suspect there wouldn't be many smaller and lighter than brake calipers or discs than mine... We have had 3 brake issues that let to poor braking in 350 odd hours and as soon as identified we fixed them and went back to fantastic braking...
dutchroll Posted December 27, 2015 Posted December 27, 2015 What about braking - if you have brakes - apart from brake testing at initial taxi and return to hangar ............. may be a dab after flare to see if they are there Not a particularly good technique to use as a standard procedure. If you're doing a short-field landing well yeah you are probably going to have to get on the brakes fairly quickly but there is a technique to high speed brake application in planes without anti-skid protection, and risks associated with doing it which you need to think about. As a rule it's always best to let some of those V-squareds wash off first. How much do you rely on brakes after flare ? I'm extremely reluctant to use them until the plane has decelerated somewhat. However using them to make a taxiway is no problem as long as I don't need to stomp on them. Mine has very effective brakes. They need to be, as 436HP driving a 2.6m diameter prop produces a whole bunch of thrust during an engine runup. Seems to me best way is try and not rely on brakes to make the plane fit the strip ............... just in case those brakes are not there or are not as good as you thought they were ? That's always a good idea in a small plane with no backup braking system (i.e. virtually all of them). You should not need to rely on the brakes to slow you to taxi speed by the end of the strip. If you do, you should probably be questioning whether it's really suitable for your plane!
Russ Posted December 27, 2015 Posted December 27, 2015 If.........you do regular xcountry runs, you need the best of brakes. scinareo...........you ring ahead to proposed stopover, person at the other end of the line confirms strip is usable about 1000m long......i think........ all good. You arrive at strip......do a fly over, grass looks longish, termite mounds, looks like a couple of water ruts there, tall trees one end. So........finals over the trees, reduces strip by 200m at least, finals from other direction....bugger, them termite mounds are around that end.....so, which ever way you look at it, this strip is seriously getting shortish. Forgot, looks like stones etc are there as well, at 70ish knots, 100ft off the deck, trying to absorb "detail" is challenging. When my wheels hit the deck, i want damn good brakes............just my view. You parkup, tie down, grab your o/nite bag, walk to the R/house. Person behind the bar says " hi...was that you folks that just flew over"........yes it was us, employee says no one has used that strip for ages. Was it Ok...............have seen better is the reply, but some one here told us last week.......it was good to use. Oh, says employee, did that person have a german accent..............sure did, sorry says employee, that person assumed it was all good, infact we would've alerted you to a more accurate report. Moral of the story.........seek genuine qualified feedback..........ie.... owners of resort / r/house, etc. 2
SDQDI Posted December 27, 2015 Posted December 27, 2015 I use my brakes fairly often, probably more than I have to but that is ok with me. I like Russ's story, and I know for myself when flying to a strange strip, no matter how much I have been informed or how good it looks, I like to healthily use the brakes to pull up that little bit quicker. IMO the less time/distance you are rolling at a new strip the better, nothing like finding a rabbit hole or unsighted washout to ruin your day. 2
Captaincoop Posted December 27, 2015 Posted December 27, 2015 What about an aborted take off? Brakes are handy then 4
facthunter Posted December 27, 2015 Posted December 27, 2015 Good brakes are lovely but most U/Ls don't have them. Nev 1
billwoodmason Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 Jaba-who tell me more about your mark 3 brakes. What's different, when did they become available?.
ron dunn Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 Most of the early standard lightwings were fitted with band brakes - and you don't rely on them for anything! particularly if they are wet. But like Doug said - the Lightwing is draggy, has a low landing speed and short ground run anyway. Cheers Ron 1
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