brakes

[skonie]

I have a question on my brakes. I took off my wheels and brakes and my gear and didnt pay attention to how it goes back together. The manual says the bleeder points down. If I try to put them on that way it interferes with the gear. If I put them on the way I think they should go the brake line connection almost points down and the bleeder is at the top. Is this right or do I have it backwards? Anyone with pics of there brakes?

Thanks

[jtpitkin06]

Danny from Kentucky just made his first flight and has some nice construction photos in his album.

Here's one of the brakes.

http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/alb...pictureid=2454

The bleeder on aircraft brake systems is usually on the bottom of the caliper. It differs from automotive brakes where the bleeder is on the top of the caliper. The reason is aircraft brakes are bled from the bottom up using a pressure pump. Auto brakes are bled from the top down.

JP

[cap01]

not sure how there could be an interference with the gear , unless you using a different arrangement of brake disks/wheels

[jtpitkin06]

The two previous examples show an inside caliper and an outside caliper.
Both bleed at the bottom.

The hose routing varies. Danny's loops forward and over while Chuck's loops rearward and under. Either is fine.

Of the two I prefer Chuck's rearward routing for landing in tall grass. It's possible grass could catch a forward looped hose and fold it backward. OTOH the forward looped hose is higher and less likely to snag grass or twigs.


John

[t j]

Here's the tube gear brake installation if you have that.

[cap01]

when i acquired the kit , the wheels , brakes and wheel pants were installed . i tripped over the pants for a year while i was completing the plane . finally , just before i first flew her , i removed the pants . the hose configuration was different with the bleeder on the tip . as a concern for catching the hose on something , i changed it to what i have now . the hose goes straight aft out of the bottom of the gear leg and is somewhat protected by the gear leg . so far it has worked fine for me . awhile back i did reinstall the pants and made a couple of flights with them on . wasnt really pleased with then as there was no bulkhead or diaphragm in them . after a couple of flights the aft part of them was filled with grass that they had shaved off the runway . besides whenever i ass or unass the plane i use the tire for assistance and im sure i would have damaged the pant after awhile . i guess the real reason is im not a fan of pants .

[HighWing]

One more thing to think about is the outlet position from the gun drilled internal brake line. When I switched to the aluminum landing gear in my first Model IV, I asked the factory if I could have the outlet at the aft edge of the gear leg. They drilled exactly between the axle mounting bolts from the aft edge intersecting the internal vertical line. Tapping the hole with a 1/8" tap for the fittings and using a plug on the hole at the end of the gear leg, I was able to have the entire length of brake pigtail outof harms way. I am curious why I never see this anymore. If I were using the Grove gear on my new project, this is exactly what I would do again.

The picture doesn't actually show the brake line, but for the purpose of this note, that is good.

Lowell

[jtpitkin06]

When I made last nights post I was thinking it wouldn't be that difficult to drill in from the trailing edge of the spring gear and put a plug in the bottom. As usual, someone has already blazed a trail. Thanks for the report Lowell.

John