Aeroconversion brake performance?

[13brv3]

Thanks for taking the time to post the picture. They look the same, and are positioned exactly the same. I have no explanation of why mine has so much less clearance than yours.

I have my rudder pedals downstairs, and will be adding toe brake pedals to them. I have most of the steel cut and ready to weld tomorrow, and I'll CNC a couple brackets that will make the position of the brake pedals adjustable. With any luck, by mid weeks I'll have brakes. Hopefully they'll be better than what I had, which is almost certain.

Rusty

[onex28]

I have the same setup as you Michael, is you master cylinder 1/2 inch or larger? I’m not sure I have mine worn in yet as I’m not entirely satisfied with the performance. I don’t have additional spacers, just the Sonex bearing washer.

David

[XenosN42]

I have the same setup as you Michael, is you master cylinder 1/2 inch or larger? I’m not sure I have mine worn in yet as I’m not entirely satisfied with the performance. I don’t have additional spacers, just the Sonex bearing washer.

David

1/2 inch

[13brv3]

I still don't know how you guys are getting that motorcycle grip to fit, but no matter now, since I've got the toe brake modification finished and installed. I just have to do the plumbing. The pictures show the brake pedal in the 30 degree forward hole, but that quickly got moved to the 10 degree forward hole. Once I actually get the brakes working, I'll see if it needs to be adjusted.

The grey part of the pedal was added during construction to raise the rudder pedals to a reasonable height. It seems like manufacturers always make the top of the rudder weldments too short. You either have to have tiny feet, or the ability to point your toes like a ballerina. I have neither of those qualities :-)

Rusty

[13brv3]

So far so good. I despise bleeding brakes, but it's done (it's never really done) and the brakes are a HUGE improvement over the mechanical drum brakes. No pulsation, no squeaking, and they hold a 4000 RPM run-up with the 912. It definitely doesn't give me the ultimate in stopping power, but it's as strong as it needs to be.

Rusty

[Bryan Cotton]

So I've finally gotten my Aeroconversion brakes sorted out. Actually a while ago. My biggest issue was the wheel bearings were not seated all the way, and the brakes slowly seated them for me. Lesson learned: Press in the races with a hydraulic press, don't rely on tightening the nut. Now the issue I have is it is nearly impossible to engage the parking brake notch because the brakes are extremely firm. Has anybody else had this issue? I'm thinking I need to shorten my parking brake extrusion.

Temporarily I've made a wooden wedge for parking. Operation is shown below.
https://youtube.com/shorts/jXjK5N_nGGc?feature=share

[Tnhelm]

I installed the parking brake valve available at Sonex. Works well and I added a “choke cable” to position it within reach in the cockpit. One problem I foresee with the notched handle stop is that handle position will change as air bubbles develop in the lines (common). Generally the bubbles don’t affect the brake operation until they become excessive at which time there is a need to bleed the brake lines again. I think it happened to me because I didn’t keep the actuator sufficiently filled with fluid as the brake pads wore. The down side of the parking brake valve is that the it must be released in order to apply additional braking if the aircraft begins to creep while starting or doing a run up. Caused some brief excitement to me a couple of times when I attempted to add brake pressure while the parking brake valve was closed.
Tom
OneX 0137

[13brv3]

So I've finally gotten my Aeroconversion brakes sorted out. Actually a while ago. My biggest issue was the wheel bearings were not seated all the way, and the brakes slowly seated them for me.

That's certainly interesting. Mine are set up as toe brakes, with no reservoir on the Hegar masters. The lack of a reservoir has been an annoyance, because the pedals move farther forward with use, and it seems I'm often having to refill (bleed) the brakes to get the pedals back where they belong. All this time I've been assuming it was due to wear on the pads, but it seemed too fast for that, so maybe the races are being seated further by the brakes as you noticed. I love to think that's it, and that maybe I can stop filling them every few months.

On another brake related note, who decided that the hose nipple on the brake bleed screw had to be so short. It seem to have been designed to make sure any hose you put on it falls off while turning the screw. I've searched for a bleed screw with a longer nipple, but no luck, so I'm going to try to make one myself for this next round.

Rusty

[Bryan Cotton]

[All this time I've been assuming it was due to wear on the pads, but it seemed too fast for that, so maybe the races are being seated further by the brakes as you noticed.
Rusty

If the races are moving, the wheels will get loose like this:


I had to add a washer under the castle nut.

[13brv3]

Thanks for the video. I'm pretty sure I'd notice that, but I'll look for any looseness this week.
Rusty (hate bleeding brakes)