frozen brake

[Bigsteve]

I pulled the rv-12 out of the hanger after warming it up with my pre-heater and taxied over to the fuel pump. Took about 10 minutes to fuel, taxied back to my hanger to get arriving passenger. In the meantime, the wind started gusting and blowing snow off the drifts. Shut down to load passenger, but we decided it was starting to gust alot worse than expected, so we hooked up towbar and tried to put it back in the hanger, but 1 wheel was frozen. It appeared that some blowing snow got inside the wheel well and froze between a brass bushing and the inside of the hub. There is only about 1/32 " gap, but I couldn't budge it. Luckily I was near the hanger & my 100' extension cord and salamander heater, finally got it freed up & back into hanger. My A&P told me I probably would have blown a tire if we would have flown that nite. I had removed the wheel pants to avoid a slush build-up, but now the hub is more exposed to blowing snow. What do other pilots do besides only flying above freezing ? Thanks

 

[roger lee]

"What do other pilots do besides only flying above freezing ? Thanks"

Move to Arizona.
I couldn't resist.

 

[JBPILOT]

I'll jump in - -

Last time I flew the runway was melting snow/ice here and there. Didn't think about it, but upon landing on the driest section I could find, I think both wheels had froze a little. Seemed to jerk a bit, then normal. I suppose it could have been a bunch worse. I sure was not trying to brake since it was about 50% ice/snow covered. May not answer your question exactly, but another thing to be aware of.

 

[cactusman]

I pulled the rv-12 out of the hanger after warming it up with my pre-heater and taxied over to the fuel pump. Took about 10 minutes to fuel, taxied back to my hanger to get arriving passenger. In the meantime, the wind started gusting and blowing snow off the drifts. Shut down to load passenger, but we decided it was starting to gust alot worse than expected, so we hooked up towbar and tried to put it back in the hanger, but 1 wheel was frozen. It appeared that some blowing snow got inside the wheel well and froze between a brass bushing and the inside of the hub. There is only about 1/32 " gap, but I couldn't budge it. Luckily I was near the hanger & my 100' extension cord and salamander heater, finally got it freed up & back into hanger. My A&P told me I probably would have blown a tire if we would have flown that nite. I had removed the wheel pants to avoid a slush build-up, but now the hub is more exposed to blowing snow. What do other pilots do besides only flying above freezing ? Thanks

I like the moving to AZ answer...however as someone with plenty of cold wx flying experience, the second answer is to avoid using the brakes at all....fly it like you were on floats or skis...takes a little more patience and speed control, but doable. Although I agree that perhaps the close tolerances of those brakes on the disc may hinder any solution.

Is there a deice or anti ice coating you can put on the discs?

As an aside I am putting my plane on gear this week and as I am assembling the brakes and wheels, is anyone using marine grease for the wheel bearings?

What about anti-seize on the caliper assemblies?

Could those help with the cold and wet?

 

[RFSchaller]

John,

I used automotive wheel bearing grease and no anti-sieze material. No problems with 150 hours in service.

Rich

 

[RV3bpilot]

Frozen brakes

I did not freeze my brakes but when I tried to pull the plane out of the hangar I could feel something dragging, I thought it was the brakes. When I removed the wheel covers they were both filled with snow packed in all around and rubbing against the tires. I have decided if there is snow on the runway I will remove the wheel covers before flying.

 

[Dale F. Field]

freeing snow in brakes

Bob Leaders [8Y6] told me years ago,when taking off or landing with
a chance of snow in brakes, always bump the gear on runway like a
student, works for me.
Dale F. Field

 

[yankee-flyer]

No pants in winter!!!!

44 years ago I landed a Cessna 170B with snow/slush frozen inside the wheel pants. Since then I have NEVER flown an airplane with wheel pants on it during the winter time!

Wayne 120241/143WM (228 hours and waiting (barely) for shoulder to heal so I can fly again.

 

[BillL]

Bob Leaders [8Y6] told me years ago,when taking off or landing with
a chance of snow in brakes, always bump the gear on runway like a
student, works for me.
Dale F. Field

Yep, Bob Minnis told me that too. Bounce it first just to be sure. I hope I remember everything he taught me.

 

[Bigsteve]

Another friend told me that even though I couldn't budge the wheel, he felt that it would have broken loose after landing with the weight of the plane. He also said that he feels it's safer to do a normal landing than "bumping it". He told me to be extra careful landing in the winter and be ready to apply the other brake just in case one wheel is frozen to prevent a ground loop

 

[BigJohn]

44 years ago I landed a Cessna 170B with snow/slush frozen inside the wheel pants. Since then I have NEVER flown an airplane with wheel pants on it during the winter time!

Wayne 120241/143WM (228 hours and waiting (barely) for shoulder to heal so I can fly again.

Concur with removing wheel pants in winter. I didn't this year and now I have the opportunity to practice my fiberglass repairing skills.