REFLECTOR:Brake selection.

[Scott Baker]

Rob,
As Marisa Tomei says in a scene from the movie, "My Cousin Vinny" ... You
are "100% dead b_lls on accurate" with your observations and
recommendations!
Scott B.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <RJohn15183@aol.com>
To: <reflector@tvbf.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 2:58 PM
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR:Brake selection.

> IMHO and in my experience heating of the gear legs is a non-issue as long
as the proper pilot technique is used. IOW, simply don't ride the brakes!
>
> I don't think it is so much how hot you get the brakes it's how long you
keep them hot and how much time the heat has to soak into the entire brake
then wheel then axel then finally to the gear leg before. If the duration of
the heat event is short then the disc will quickly radiate the heat away
long before all those other parts can soak up enough to hurt the gear leg.
>
> Riding a brake is a sure way to get the long term heat soak needed to hurt
the gear leg. I always simply pumped the brakes. e.g. taxiing in a cross
wind: hit the down wind brake for a few seconds and get turned away from the
wind some then release the brake completely until the wind weather vanes you
the back into the wind. Then stab the upwind brake hard for few seconds,
repeat as needed. You end up doing a slightly curvy path along taxiway but
your brakes stay nice and cool and it's nothing compared to the S turns tail
dragger do to get to the runway.
>
> Take off in a cross wind? Taxi to the far upwind side of the runway and
start your take off run with about a 15 degree (or so) angle towards the
downwind side of the runway. The wind will gradually point you back toward
the upwind side. After a while you get pretty good at picking the amount of
downwind angle to start your run with depending on the crosswind component
and the width of the runway and you get to the point you can make a take off
in a heavy cross wind without touching the brakes at all. Its fun to make
the wind work for you!
>
> Of course your take off roll is one big curve. I should add  I did not do
this so much for brake heating as I did it just to reduce my take off
distance. As noted in the Velo POH riding a brake to fight a cross wind can
really extend your take off roll. Plus if you are in a retract as I was you
could just leave the gear down a bit longer after the take off roll to cool
them off if you felt you got the hot. I would assume that even with wheel
pants on the fixed gear versions there is still enough air circulating
through there to prevent heat soaking the gear leg? So heating was not
behind that technique at all.
>
> Landing works the same way, land at a little bit of an angle across the
runway and let the cross wind do the work for you.
>
> Every time I read an article in some magazine about how perfectly tracking
a centerline on taxi way and runway indicates a sharp pilot I kind of grit
my teeth. No matter what you are doing in life, flying, building, working in
the garden anything- if you are *good* at it you effectively use *all* the
resources at your disposal.
>
> If I can make the cross wind work for me I believe that makes me the
better pilot than the guy who just mindlessly tracks the centerline and
fights the wind and extends his take off roll and heats up his brake etc. I
am letting the cross wind work *for* me and that other guy is *fighting* it
tooth and nail all the way but he's the better pilot because he rode the
centerline? Not in my world view. YMMV.
>
> DM Rob
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