REFLECTOR: Brake lines (was "Builders Moments")

[Pat Shea]

Richard,

Are you going to attach the hard lines directly to the
gear legs? If so, what type of metal are you going to
use? 

Obviously there's a decent amount of flex in the
fiberglass gear legs, which is why some sort of
flexible line is normally utilized. Also, the
inevitable main gear shudder that has been discussed
recently results in some pretty good movement of the
main wheels (I've actually watched this - at 40kts
it's pretty impressive). With hard lines, this could
result in some high stress areas. Maybe there's an
alloy that's tends not to work harden.

Probably for the same reasons as you, I choose not to
go with nylaflow: more susceptible to heat and debris
damage, and it becomes brittle over time - especially
the exposed areas.  

I went with 3/16" braided lines down the gear legs
that are attached directly to the gear legs. The
serviceability is great. After 175 flying hours all is
well:

http://www.tvbf.org/gallery/?dir=subsystems%2Fbrakes

FWIW, Pat

--- "Richard J. Gentil"
<richard at naples-air-center.com> wrote:

> Such a great subject Andy described.
> 
> Friday I was working on modifying the brakes in
> order to use hard lines
> on an RG. After some reworking, this was the
> solution I came up with.
> 
> By the end of the day I was thrilled with the
> results. As for my wife,
> she said, "Looks good, when do we get to fly it?"
> (Standard statement
> every time she comes into the hangar to see the
> Velo.)
> 
> Richard



 
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