I put a totally different set of gear legs, wheels, and tires on my plane today. I'm going from a tiny 4" mechanical drum brake to Matco Hydraulic brakes. I still need to do the plumbing but getting really close to being back in the air with a whole lotta mods!! I picked up a ton of prop clearance and AOA. Can't wait to fly it!

BEFORE






Back on the ground

Nice work J- That thing now looks like a Highlander. Sweet.

I forgot to ask you when I was out there if you ever used that windsheild/pllexiglass kit from Chief. I use mine every other month.

Take care-

AvidFlyer,

That looks like it will be even more fun! Looking forward to seeing your plane in person soon. I went up out of Angwin today with a buddy, very windy, 25 knots plus right on the nose. Felt like I could have landed at a standstill.

John

SixTwoLeemer wrote:Nice work J- That thing now looks like a Highlander. Sweet.

I forgot to ask you when I was out there if you ever used that windsheild/pllexiglass kit from Chief. I use mine every other month.

Take care-

I use it every so often. That Lexan scratches super easy. It's pretty thin stuff.

Dude, let's get those things dirty!!

Great looking plane AvidFlyer!

Getting ready to do the plumbing on my brakes and getting some mixed info on what to use to seal the fittings. The stuff the company recommended is a $51 tube of some special Loctite. They are brass NPT fittings with tapered threads. This is only a 600psi max system using the clear 1/8" plastic lines. Do I really need to put anything on the threads?? I don't want to spend 50 bucks on a tube of junk that's going to sit in my toolbox forever after I use 10 drops out of it.

I think the Loctite product is just the brand of thread sealant and not what is normally referred to as loctite that is used to keep a nut from coming off. But look up that particular Loctite to be sure.
Usually for tapered threads you can use two wraps of teflon tape but stay back from the front thread when you start the wrap to keep from getting some inside the line. Wrap the tape around the male fitting in the opposite direction that you tighten it to keep from piling the tape in the threads as you tighten. The teflon tape takes up some space to fill between ill fitting threads but also acts as a lubricant to let it turn in farther to get the threads to seal. There are liquid teflon thread sealants that are as good too but more expensive. Either is better than tightening the fitting while dry.
The price of being wrong on this is to see the brake fluid leaking. No damage to the system, and a leak will be slow enough not to cause you to lose braking power. Be sure to use the right kind of brake fluid for your system to be compatible with the rubber used in the pistons. The 701 kit used automotive ATF but my Tundra uses standard aircraft brake fluid with a military spec, both are red.

I filled both the 701 and Tundra brake systems from the bottom bleeder valve using a cattle syringe with a rubber hose fitted over the loosened bleeder valve and pushed the fluid up the line to the master cylinder purging the air out the top at the same time I filled. Don't use the automotive procedure of filling from the top of the master cylinder, you will trap some air and the brakes will be spongy, and be sure to not over fill because your brakes will drag a little all the time. You may have to have someone hold a little pressure on the pedal after filling while you open the bleeder valve slightly to let a bit out so the brake puck retracts away from the disk or shoe for clearance when pressure is released. Hope this is some help.

AvidFlyer wrote:Getting ready to do the plumbing on my brakes and getting some mixed info on what to use to seal the fittings. The stuff the company recommended is a $51 tube of some special Loctite. They are brass NPT fittings with tapered threads. This is only a 600psi max system using the clear 1/8" plastic lines. Do I really need to put anything on the threads?? I don't want to spend 50 bucks on a tube of junk that's going to sit in my toolbox forever after I use 10 drops out of it.

The kitfox builder's manual says this about the brake fittings:
On the master cylinder fittings "Use thread lubricant".
On the wheel cylinders "Use Teflon tape or Rectorseal #5 to seal threads. CAUTION Over tightening the fittings into the calipers will crack the calipers."

I used Teflon tape on both the wheel cylinders and the master cylinders. I have the exact same parts you show in one of your other posts with a photo.

I just thought of something else. The instructions have you "Relieve" the wheel cylinder castings to clear the torque plate mounting bolts. Then slide the calipers and housing back and forth to make sure they float freely. Do you have the instructions that shows all this monkey motion?

Another thing. A couple of the lugs welded onto the wheels that the brake disks attach too interfered with the wheel cylinders on my Kitfox. One wheel would not even turn and on the other I could hear a ticking sound when I spun the wheel. I used a rasp to file them down for clearance. This was not mentioned in the builder's manual.

Slight caliper drag is not a huge deal, I go by how the wheel spins mostly.

I use a squeeze oil can (bought new and reserved for this use), like I use at my drill press for squirting cutting oil, to up pump the brakes. And, a turkey baster (yeah I bought it new also) to suck up the excess fluid out of the reservoir, which if you are concentrating on the bleeding process will create a hell of a mess when over filled! That keeps it clean so you can run it right back through.

Hey J, I bet this was answered by you before, but what's the hump on the right side of you cowling? Air induction or something unique for that rotax?

Tadpole wrote:Hey J, I bet this was answered by you before, but what's the hump on the right side of you cowling? Air induction or something unique for that rotax?

The Rotax 582 is water cooled. I'm gonna go with: cowling shroud for radiator.

1SeventyZ wrote:The Rotax 582 is water cooled. I'm gonna go with: cowling shroud for radiator.

Ooo, that's what it looks like! Cool, thanks.!

Its the turbine inlet shroud.

emflys wrote:Its the turbine inlet shroud.

Stop giving away my secrets!

Yes there's a radiator in there. I also have one between the gear legs because the little on was not enough during a long climb. The newer model Avids had cheek radiators in the front of the cowl but they had cooling issues too. The Kitfox uses a big scoop under the cowl to a belly radiator.

Couple crappy pics of the new gear.

First off airport experience with the new tires... No comparison

Looking good! A future mod you might wanna consider is a tube betwen one of the "V" gear members & the inboard member that goes up to the bungees. This is getting to be a common mod on Pacers, as some guys have had that inboard member fold up when they get out of shape on landing & a side load is put on it. Search the shortwingpipers.org site for pics & discussion. Another item might be a fueling step somewhere up on the forward member- makes it easier to check the fuel and/or gas up, at least for us short guys.

Eric

Thanks for the info.. My fuel caps are about 4ft outboard of the Wing root so I need a ladder either way. I have some pieces made though for a step on the cross member but it's only about 2" higher than the tire so I haven't taken the time to put them on yet.

The Pacer steps I've seen (and liked) go right up by the forward gear attach fitting, about as high above the tire as you can get & still be attached to the gear. The tire is used as a first step-- assuming no wheel panties, of course. I've also seen long aluminum angles used as a dual-purpose fueling step/boarding step- a lot of float planes are set up in a similar fashion. That might be handy but IMHO it's unsightly.

Eric