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Thread: Tight turns with the hand brake?

  1. #11
    59pacer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tight turns with the hand brake?

    Back in the early sixties, our 'authorities' detected a large increase in defect reports for cracked engine mounts. After much research, they put it down to pilots using high power and very tight taxi turns, which put extremely large gyroscopic loads on the engine mounts that they hadn't really been designed to handle.
    I don't recall if there was any reference to metal props and toe brakes becoming more common at that time, but both those features wouldn't help.
    More grist for the mill......

  2. #12
    Administrator Steve Pierce's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tight turns with the hand brake?

    Quote Originally Posted by Troy Hamon View Post
    Steve...can you really turn tighter with toe brakes? The nosewheel is direct pushrod steering. I would think that making it turn more tightly by reefing on the inside brake would run the risk of damaging the nosewheel linkages. The GA-8 has this issue...they have to drill it into the pilots that you are not allowed to use brakes to assist with turns...ever...
    From what I remember I could. Probably drug on the braking wheel helped but it has been a while since I flew a Tri-Pacer with toe brakes. I will get Cathy to comment, she learned to fly in a Tri-Pacer with toe brakes and the one we own has the Johnson bar.

  3. #13

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    Default Re: Tight turns with the hand brake?

    I just installed the toe brakes in my PA-22. In my opinion they don't make much difference in the turn radius on the ground.

    Paul
    Salome, AZ

  4. #14
    Glen Geller's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tight turns with the hand brake?

    I suppose if you were in a narrow hangar row or taxiway between lots of planes, if really wanted to make a tight turn in a Tri-Pacer with toe brakes, you could pull back on the yoke and goose the gas to get the nose wheel off the ground, and hold that configuration while the plane pivoted around the inside wheel.
    What could possibly go wrong?

    Have a great July 4th Holiday everyone!

    GG
    Glen Geller
    1955 PA22-150 "One For Papa!"

  5. #15
    rocket's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tight turns with the hand brake?

    PIREP for us johnson bar boys and girls:

    pulled into my tie down yesterday, gave a little goos of gas to get my main wheel on the square of plywood i keep under the wheel, just a little too much, reached down and gave a quick firm yank and pop! I stopped six inches from reshaping my wingtip on a young cottonwood!

    The cable had snapped where it went around the small pulley up high on the firewall. Not something I am super proud of mentioning as I am the IA of record but thought it was worth eating a small dish of humble pie in order to keep this from becoming more ugly in someone elses case.

    Make sure you get down there and rag that cable as its the only one forced to bend 270 deg. around those little pullies. Better yet remove one end and flex the cable looking for flaws. More better yet if it hasn't been changed in recent history make a new one. My new one measured 63 3/8" inside eye to inside eye. I cheated though measured, swaged the one end, slipped it under the pulleys so as to not have to remove them and swaged the last one whilst playing cockpit twister with the flap handle and yokes.


    Rocket

  6. #16
    Administrator Steve Pierce's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tight turns with the hand brake?

    Thanks Rocket. Good reminder. Same goes for the brake master cylinder diaphram as well. Glad you missed the cottonwood. We had a guy here years ago just miss a chain link fence when his brake diaphram ruptured.

  7. #17

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    Default Re: Tight turns with the hand brake?

    Cables can be a little tricky. I found the one in the picture a couple of years ago. It was on a pretty a straight run using a hard to reach pulley as a fairlead. I looked and moved on. Looked again and tried to rub with a rag and moved on. Finally I decided something just had to be wrong there and loosened the cable. That's when it opened up. That kind of damage doesn't happen overnight so, even though it had been 300+ hours, I figure I missed it starting to come apart the year before. I loosen those cables every inspection now (aileron cables for brand X).
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    Last edited by Jeff J; 11-02-2018 at 03:36 PM.

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