Parking Brake...

[comfortcat]

I meant that all manufacturers have a check brakes step in a checklist BTW: My IFR instructor did include a "check brakes" before landing; the "Undercarriage" part of GUMPS on a fixed gear.


All check lists? Can you imagine:

ENGINE OUT CHECKLIST
==================
Fuel to both (Cessna thing)
Primer Locked
Ignition both
Brakes Checked
Mixture rich
...

Originally Posted by krw5927

Startup checklist, yes. But I don't have "Check Brakes" on my PRE-LANDING checklist, as there's nothing for me to do if I check them and they go to the floor. I still have to land and I certainly can't service them from up there.

[Michael White]

Originally Posted by krw5927

<snip> I don't have "Check Brakes" on my PRE-LANDING checklist, as there's nothing for me to do if I check them and they go to the floor. I still have to land and I certainly can't service them from up there.

Perhaps nothing you could do about it, but it would give you a heads up for what to expect after touch down...before you get there.

[flyboy1963]

So you hi-timers out there, or any unfortunate enough to have experienced this....if brakes are unknown, or possibly one is locked, are you better to land on grass?.....slippage = less force on gear, nose over, etc.
other options...
- would the fire guys foam the runway to make it slippery? ( like I've heard done for gear-up landings)
- if you're Bob Hoover, touch each wheel lightly to see if it's locked.
- if not, then land,
- if locked, go find a frozen lake?

[drjjbrown]

Bruce

Beautiful install on the new Matco parking brake valve. Where did you get the bracket. It looks like the one from Van's is for an old style Matco valve. Not to mention he wants $179!! for it.

Jeff

[Dbro172]

Originally Posted by drjjbrown

Bruce

Beautiful install on the new Matco parking brake valve. Where did you get the bracket. It looks like the one from Van's is for an old style Matco valve. Not to mention he wants $179!! for it.

Jeff

Order an F704k upright cap strip and cut it down. This will give you a nice parking brake standoff like Bruce's. It also provides a means to develop a stopper device and rivet it to the side of the standoff bracket.

I copied Bruce's design and am very pleased. So far I used it for transport of my aircraft to the airport and on various engine runups. It's a very positive lock and does not bleed off. You won't take off with it on!

[JanRV6UK]

Hi Bruce,

I like that cable from ACS ... What length did you use ?

Best regards

[bruceh]

I think I only needed a couple of feet, so buy the shortest length. This particular control is one you can cut to fit.

[airtractor8]

Originally Posted by flyboy1963

So you hi-timers out there, or any unfortunate enough to have experienced this....if brakes are unknown, or possibly one is locked, are you better to land on grass?.....slippage = less force on gear, nose over, etc.
other options...
- would the fire guys foam the runway to make it slippery? ( like I've heard done for gear-up landings)
- if you're Bob Hoover, touch each wheel lightly to see if it's locked.
- if not, then land,
- if locked, go find a frozen lake?

Yes, I had the brakes lock solid one night on landing after a night spraying sortie in an early 502 Airtractor. The early models had the park brake on/off valve on the lower subpanel that worked the same as the Matco type we have in our RV's today. It had a simple 3"long "throw over" lever on the valve to operate it.
During flight the field map and job details had fallen to the floor and I had reached down to pick them up and un be known to me(dark cockpit) the leg of my flight suit had bumped the park brake valve to the ON position
All was good until I needed some brake to keep straight on the landing roll. As you can imagine this resulted in one brake locking and was quickly followed by the other as I tried to keep the thing straight and on the runway. Fortunately I was in the latter part of the landing roll by then and on a gravel strip with the tailwheel down and locked. The result was a less than elegant sideways grinding halt in a cloud of dust but no harm done to the aircraft.
Airtractor changed the park brake mechanism after that

The message here is make sure you fit a LOCKING actuator cable to your park brake so this can't happen to you!

[JanRV6UK]

Thanks Bruce !

[WenEng]

Jan, I bought the 8 ft one. It was less costly than the shorter lengths ( probably because they would have to special cut shorter lengths). I panel mounted it and routed it up and over to just left of the firewall recess , then down to the parking brake (mounted next to the recess). That was just under 5 ft. When you pull the cable out to trim the sheath, take care not to lose the little ball bearing residing inside the sheath. It slips back in easily.