D.A.
FRIEND
Free America
Actually, I DID call Grove first with credit card in hand. I told them I had a highly modified Super Cub running 35” tires on 1.5” axles and I wanted the most powerful brakes I could get, equivalent to the Clevelands. Completely through them for a loop. They could not tell me which of their products I should buy. She started asking me “Sir, is this like a Wag Aero Cubby?” I thanked her for her time, wished her Happy Thanksgiving and ended the call.Did you check out the Grove stuff?...
So then I called Airframes AK and just decided to get their equivalent of the Clevelands. I said I want the 199-71 Wheel and Brake assembly, but I have 1.5” axles with 4 bolt flanges, would they please provide torque plates for 1.5” Super Cub gear. COMPLETELY STUMPED them, they put me in touch with their technical expert, COMPLETELY STUMPED him, he had to go talk to their mechanic. What the result – They could not come up with a product to sell me for a Super Cub with 1.5” axles. I couldn’t believe it – I couldn’t believe it. We even talked a SECOND time on the phone and I reiterated my request again, Clevelands for a Super Cub with 1.5” axles, couldn’t be done. I’m thinking any minute now someone is going to pop out with a video camera and this was all a joke, right? Wrong.
So then I call my good friend, amazing technical advisor and all around super dude (I won’t mention his name, but his initials are DW) and he chuckles and says he has two different sets of torque plates for 1.5” axles and he’ll bring them tomorrow when he comes up. I also ask about the beefier 199-62A brakes and it turns out that’s what he runs. So, I go back to Airframes website and just order the 35’s, the 10” wheels and the 199-62A Assemblies on their shopping cart and call it good.
One last point, I called AA a third time just to verify that there are actually two wheels and brakes in their 199-62A kit. There are two in the picture, but the description says Wheel, not Wheels, and Brake, not Brakes and Assembly, not Assemblies. I just wanted to verify that there were two, not one, that’s all, easy question - - - She wanted to refer me to the technical expert again…. I said whoa, wait a minute, it’s just a question of quantity, one or two? She said, well, let me look. I can hear her tapping on the keyboard and realize she’s looking at the exact same screen and picture that I’m looking at and she comes back with “There are two there.” At that point I stopped talking to people on the phone.
I came away with 2 conclusions from all of this: 1) I may have been talking to aviation companies, but I wasn’t talking to aviation people. It’s like when you walk into today’s typical auto parts store and ask for a replacement arm rest and the girl asks if it has a 6 or 8 cylinder. You’re in an auto parts store but you’re not talking to car people. 2) What we experimental guys do is really cool. We cut and paste and end up with what we feel is the right combination, what a cool pursuit. And virtually everyone on this website would understand what you’re doing with those cuts and pastes, but the place you go to buy the scissors and paper may not have a clue. By the time we make a buying decision, we probably know more about their product than the people answering the phone – Trust me….