Dual brakes

cjensen · #1 03-16-2007, 01:35 PM

I just got to thinking about this today, and I'm wondering why I chose to put in dual brakes. I have the dual brake system, but is it really worth putting in?

Those of you with the brakes on one side...do you wish you had the dual set up?

Those with both...do you ever need or use the other side?

I can't see myself ever letting someone not proficient enough in RV taildraggers (that includes me right now...) take off and land this thing from the right side, and if for some reason I'm on the right, someone better than me will be in the left seat.

Just wondering if it's worth the weight???

If not, I may have a set of brakes for sale!

dan · #2 03-16-2007, 02:07 PM

Chad, I'm with you. Keep it simple & light. Adding brakes later is not a huge deal...and a future owner who feels it's absolutely necessary would hopefully see that as a great way to "get to know" working on their new airplane.

Mel · #3 03-16-2007, 02:16 PM

Since my wife & I both fly and she flies from the right seat, it works for us. I also fly from the right seat occasionally when giving a demo ride.

alpinelakespilot2000 · #4 03-16-2007, 02:16 PM

Chad-
1. Are you EVER going to have an instructor in the plane with you? Will an instructor agree to fly in a plane that has no brakes for the instructor to use, ESPECIALLY a taildragger?
2. Are you EVER going to use this plane to teach your daughter how to fly? Do you want to have access to brakes in this case?
I'm definitely an advocate of KISS, but had absolutely no questions about going ahead and putting dual brakes in. At the same time, they wouldn't be that hard to retrofit later... but it would be a pain.
Just my .02.

jcoloccia · #5 03-16-2007, 02:50 PM

I'm with Mel. Ellen flies and it would be nice to have dual brakes because of that. It will also be nice if she's in the left seat and we end up with a stiff crosswind, or something like that....I can back her up a bit since I have a lot more TD time than she does.

If Ellen didn't fly, I wouldn't bother with the dual brakes at all. In fact, we may just decide not to install them anyhow.

kentb · #6 03-16-2007, 04:27 PM

My primary right seat-er (wife) wants to be treated like an airline passenger. No stick, no brakes, no extra buttons in front of her. If it were easy to do I would think about removing the rudder peddles.

When I take anyone else for a ride, that wants to fly the plane I let them have the controls, but I do the landing.
No one else will be flying from the right seat. I am not an instructor so won't be giving real flight lessons in my plane.
If my CFI does not want to fly from the right without brakes, I'll get a new CFI.

Kent

Phyrcooler · #7 03-16-2007, 05:17 PM

In the unplanned and unexpected event I or some other person on the left seat become incapacitated (sudden medical problem, birdstrike, etc.), I want the person in the right (or back for a 4 or 8) to be able to have every opportunity to land the plane. That is why I teach my non-pilot wife the basics of aircraft control and what the various critical knobs, buttons and levers are. We talk all the time about system redundancies...

I won't sacrifice complete dual controls (stick/rudder/throttle) for a couple pounds or a knot of speed. Just my personal feelings. YMMD.

cjensen · #8 03-16-2007, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kentb

My primary right seat-er (wife) wants to be treated like an airline passenger. No stick, no brakes, no extra buttons in front of her. If it were easy to do I would think about removing the rudder peddles.

When I take anyone else for a ride, that wants to fly the plane I let them have the controls, but I do the landing.
No one else will be flying from the right seat. I am not an instructor so won't be giving real flight lessons in my plane.
If my CFI does not want to fly from the right without brakes, I'll get a new CFI.

Kent

This is pretty much exactly how I feel about it. My wife has NO desire to learn to fly. She LOVES riding with me, but doesn't want to touch the controls.

I'll be more than happy to let someone fly it from the right seat, but not takeoff and land. If it's gonna ground loop, I'll be responsible for it.

I will not do any training in my airplane (other than solo practice), so I won't need a CFI that wants brakes. My training will come in someone elses airplane that uses it for training. BFR's are done at work.

I'm also not an instructor (the one rating I don't have, and don't want), and I have no kids (don't plan on any either), so I'm leaning more and more towards the one side is enough for me direction.

Paul Thomas · #9 03-16-2007, 06:41 PM

Another vote for left side only, the PIC (that's be me) will just have to sit on the left.

newtech · #10 03-16-2007, 08:08 PM

Probably getting within a year of flying our plane. After the 40 hours are flown off my wife wants to take "pitch hitter" lessons so she can land the plane if something happens to me. Since I turned 60 a few months ago I think it is a good idea. Hopefully she will continue on to get her license. Pretty cool to have a wife that wants to learn to fly. Dual controls are a necessity for my flight requirements. Build the plane to fit your requirements and have fun.

Steve Eberhart
RV-7A, picking up a 0 time O-360-A1A tomorrow