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Lowrider LSA

Since I have nothing under my floor and really no reason to pull up the floor once it is installed I decided to put a piece of 0.025 6061 around the floor to attach the bottom of the Kydex. This should also keep dirt and stuff from getting into the belly and make cleanup easier...I hate net plates but they seem to be the best solution with a #8 machine screw and a finish washer to hold the bottom of the Kydex.

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Matco instructions say to make sure the res is the highest point in the system and I agree it should be from a bleeding and getting the air out standpoint...but I'd like to put the parking brake valve on the bottom of the control panel next to the door which is higher than the res. Reason I'd like it there is so I reach it easily in the front seat but also so I can release it from the outside easily if I need to move the plane. Since the parking brake valve is on the pressure side of the master cyl, do you think it will cause a problem being higher than the res?
 
Yes... Any fluid in the line will drain out the top of the reservoir... Gravity works...

My advise, mount the brake valve low and use a Bowden cable on the dash to operate it..

Brian
 
My MATCO park brake valve is down low, pretty much between the rudder pedals. A push/pull cable about 2' long goes to the panel, with the knob clearly labeled, and even shaped different, then the other also clearly labeled knobs. Not that I've tried taking off with the brakes locked.....! It's easy enough to reach in the open door and reach it. The res. on the firewall, fairly high up. Works great, zero problems. I use that parking brake all the time on hillsides and probably trust it more then I should, but my system is tight and it never seems to let off until I want it to.
 
I made a 6" valve handle extension this morning and I'm still playing with where I'll install the valve. I don't want it on the floor or where it will allow my feet or someone else's feet to get to the valve. I still like the door location. My res. is on the firewall too and fairly low so I can see the fluid level easily during pre-flight...might raise it up some. I'll cut the handle as short as possible once I make a decision on where I like it. I like the parking brake too since I'm getting too old to jump out and find a rock before the plane rolls away but it needs to be on pre-landing check list...very awkward to land with the parking brake "on".
 
Low,
You are using the singular "valve". Are you installing two? One on each side or across cockpit with the plumbing? Do you have a single piece of hardware with two portals on a common handle? Maybe two valves bussed together with a common remote control? I assume that you have two independent braking systems. One for each wheel for steering purposes. The Scott valves which Piper installed on the -12, -18, -22 can be bolted together with a single push/pull control for both.
 
Sky,

I have the Matco duel valve, one for each main gear brake which are also Matco twin puck brakes. It is two valves married to one single rod that runs thru both valves with a single lever which will keep pressure to both brakes at the same time. You can't choose which brake in pressurized...it's both or none.

The pair have two holes between the valves to bolt the valves to the airframe and the "top in", "bottom out" fittings. Top is fed from the pressure side of each master cylinder and bottom plumps to each main gear brake.

My intention is to use a lever and not a cable so I can put a "safety" on the lever so it will be held in the "open" position so there is no chance of having the parking brake engage without removing the "safety"...maybe overkill but I'll feel better. I don't use the parking brake for long term parking, rather I'd chock and/or tie down the plane and relieve the pressure on the brakes and maybe use it for start-up depending upon the situation, but usually I'd use the foot pedals to hold the brakes.
 
Current thinking is a bracket with a notch for the lever to sit in holding it in an open position and a spring to keep the lever in the notch. Lift the lever and move out of notch to apply parking brake.

Just not feeling the love for the cable remote.
 
This is the idea:

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Up engages the parking brake and down is the open or free flow position and the lever is held in place by the bolt head. I was thinking a "T" welded on the bolt head that would need to be turned to release the handle but I'm not sure it's necessary. If I want it later it's an easy fix. By using the bolt and some springy 2024 I don't need the spring...also can mount it under the panel next to the door and run the left brake line along the bottom of the panel and down to the left gear leg. That's my story.....
 

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Maybe a light spring under the bolt head which you can push with your thumb. That will help keep the handle from accidentally moving.
 
You CAN use the Matco independent, I do all the time when turning the plane by hand on a hill side. You just mash on the desired brake and flip the valve, the mashed brake stays locked, the unmashed side stays free.
Landed a new slope today, used the brake, zero issues with it being ON accidental with the panel control except for a pilot screwup. Yours won't be any safer, just saying. Pilot error is still pilot error, my deciding factor was min. brake line routing, plus I like the panel mounted knob being easy to eyeball, though I never to seem to check it before landing anyway. I figure if it was off when I took off, it'll be off when I land, and that has been the case. It is way down on my list of things to worry about when landing.
 
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You're correct Courier! I understood that the valves work independently but didn't express it properly.

Not doing a landing check list is how we do gear up landings. I guess it's the flight instructor coming out but we tend to get soooo comfortable with our simple airplanes that we never think about stupid stuff like... did I pull the defroster knob or the parking brake knob while I was hard on the right rudder? Silly stuff like not using carb heat on base to final can kill you. I lost the engine in an DHC-3 once on final but I was high and it really didn't matter on a 5000 ft runway...but it could have on a 1200' strip. I was doing a fair amount of twin IFR at the time in an Aztec and Navajo and used the check lists all the time...got into a simper airplane and just got complacent. How many of us do clearing before we make a turn...that's how we have mid-airs.

Be careful out there folks!!!
 
Fire blankets...does everyone use them? Do they go on the front or back of the fire wall?

The boot cowl is alum and would provide some protection from heat and flames coming around the stainless fire wall, but, right behind the boot cowl is fabric on one side and a door on the other. Is the fire blanket like the landing gear safety cables...could help in some cases but the probability of needing them really isn't all that great.

Whatdoyathink?
 
The fire blankets usually go on the engine side of the firewall.
We use these on the lancair aircraft .
There are other fireproofing materials , fibrefrax is one used on glasairs . It is sold by aircraft spruce.
The glasair has well as the lancairs have a composite firewall that needs fireproofing.
The fibrefrax was put against the firewall (engine side ) and then sandwiched in by an aluminum or stainless firewall cover.
This also helps reduce engine , noise , vibration and radiant heat.
There is another material that can applied like paint.
aircraft spruce also sells a ceramic sheet called firewall 2000 blanket. It is easily applied and really works well.
there are options.
Another possible idea would be to use 2 firewalls sandwiched with the fibrefrax in between. (I know extra weight )
any materials I have seen inside the cabin side of the firewall has been for finishing (looks ) or sound deadening and radiant heat purposes.
There are options but I never see them on Cubs ?
 
This is what I used. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/firewallsets.php?clickkey=7985 Since my Cub is a wide body I used the PA-20 blanket. It is a good fit.

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The fireproof firewall (normally steel- Stainless) is to keep any fire in the engine compartment and away from the occupants. The blanket serves two primary purposes. Noise suppression and helps keep the engine heat away from the pilot in the summer. Do not place it on the engine side of the firewall as knuckles suggests. He seems to be referring to an airplane with a different type of construction materiel. Being an absorbency materiel it can accumulate oils which become a fire hazard.

When installing, cut the materiel away from between the firewall and the engine mount bolt bushing. You don't want a soft materiel between the mount and the fuselage since the bolts will not hold their torque when the materiel squishes down. You want metal to metal tightness.
 

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Thanks Knucles...the paint on the front of the firewall is a neat idea.

Sky,

Nice install of the blanket! That looks like the answer.

You seem to have a lot of electrical stuff to run off a battery. IS that a plexi panel on the lower left side?
 
No not plexi. The outer alum panel is not installed yet in the pic. Other than that what you see is as completed. Total electric draw is a max of 4.5 amps.
 
Sky,

Did you glue your firewall blanket to the firewall and if so, what did you use that will hold up to the heat? I ordered blanket material last night but it seems if I use the 3m weatherstrip adhesive I frequently use for stuff like this, it will melt and the blanket will fall off the firewall. Using screws/bolts and nut plates with fender washers is a possibility but I'd rather not have them sticking thru the firewall.

More experienced minds would say.....
 
That's simple enough. I don't have the material yet but I though it was fairly flexible and limp and would need to be attached to the firewall.

Thanks as always!!
 
Does anyone use "Leak Lock Teflon" on fuel fittings? Fuel Lube is apparently no longer manufactured and EZ Turn has replaced it. I use Leak Lock on hydraulic lines and diesel fuel stuff. Wonder if it will work on pump gas with corn juice?
 
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