Toe brakes on a cub

[cubdriver55]

I was wondering if anyone has ever used the H.O. toe brake conversion on a Cub. Do you have to move the peddals back or do they stay where they are? Also how hard is it to get field approval for removing all the back controls?

 

[Grant]

Just Kidding.....My airplane has toe brakes......(kinda like saying "your momma wears combat boots" around here.)

 

[Dave Calkins]

I was wondering if anyone has ever used the H.O. toe brake conversion on a Cub. Do you have to move the peddals back or do they stay where they are? Also how hard is it to get field approval for removing all the back controls?

Kinda like saying "...let's put a EZflap on the Cub...".

 

[cubdriver55]

I was wondering if anyone has ever used the H.O. toe brake conversion on a Cub. Do you have to move the peddals back or do they stay where they are? Also how hard is it to get field approval for removing all the back controls?

Kinda like saying "...let's put a EZflap on the Cub...".

 

[bob turner]

Alaska? And you are asking about toe brakes in a Cub? You will be excommunicated.

 

[cubdriver55]

Alaska? And you are asking about toe brakes in a Cub? You will be excommunicated.

I have had a pa18-180 for years and never had a problem with heal brakes but I bought a 12 with toe brakes 2 years ago and I really like them. All the other planes i fly like 185 beaver etc have toe brakes and it has been nice having them on the 12. I am building another 18 from the ground up with dakota slotted wings and the new io390 so I was wondering how toe brakes would be on it. If anyone has a working cub with toe brakes please let me know how you like them.

 

[bob turner]

Most of the airplanes I fly have toe brakes, including my Super D. The Cub has heel brakes, and the rudder is light and free. I flew a tango Cub with factory toe brakes - they were a disaster. Rudder felt like crap. I go back and forth without thinking about it, and I like the Decathlon brakes, but I love the Cub brakes.

 

[Bill Ingerson]

Toe Brakes

I had the chance to fly a new Carbon Cub last sat. with CubCrafters.
There cubs have toe brakes. I like heel brakes but it would not take but a few landings to get comfortable with toe brakes. In a panic situation I could see it would be easy to put a plane on its back by over braking on a cub. I have toe brakes on one of dreaded 105 special cubs and I took them off. I will be putting on heel brakes.
There is nothing wrong with the Carbon Cubs toe brakes, I think pilots would have no problem with changing over to them.

Bill

 

[bob turner]

Well, with thousands of hours on toe brakes, at first I found my heels digging for heel brakes in the Decathlon. It was a little negative transfer from the Cub, to a similar seating situation. However, after about four attempts to apply heel brakes, I adapted. Now I have no problems with either.

Toe brakes are attached to the rudder pedals, and so when you want to apply rudder in the air, you are of necessity moving a whole bunch of stuff that is not helping you. That's fine in a Cessna, but the Cub is a light and feathery sort - you wear a Cub.

Still opinion.

 

[brettn]

I currently have a cub with the H.O. Aircraft toe brake conversion and I personally feel it is a great option with my Amphib floats. I have flown both toe and heel brake amphibs and while neither one is difficult, the toe brakes are much easier on windy days when taxiing around in a cross wind (unless you have a size 15 shoe that easily reaches from the heel brake to the fully deflected rudder position).

While a few unique people may issues with toe brakes and tried and did not like them, the vast majority endorse them once they have them. I have not heard to many people complain of the toe brakes in the CC Sport Cub or all the Huskie people out there with toebrakes. It seems to be the way things have progressed.

To answer your question on the H.O. Toe brake conversion, I believe that possibly the rudders are moved slightly back from the original position to allow for toe brake travel, but I didn't notice the difference when I was flying both my old cub with heel brakes and my new cub with toe brakes back to back. Dan at H.O. could answer that question for sure though. He has done many cubs with the conversion and field approves them at his facility.

Regards,

Brett Nelson

 

[185 Bushbird]

toe brakes

I have flown about 4 different cubs with HO toe brakes and they work fine, just have to keep toes low on pedals like the cessnas and huskys. Ho's 390 with toe brakes is a awesome perfomer also. My being 6-4 and size 14's work better with toe brakes than with heel brakes.

 

[pa12drvr]

Re: toe brakes

I have flown about 4 different cubs with HO toe brakes and they work fine, just have to keep toes low on pedals like the cessnas and huskys. Ho's 390 with toe brakes is a awesome perfomer also. My being 6-4 and size 14's work better with toe brakes than with heel brakes.

Different strokes for different folks.....being the same size (and same foot issue) I found just the opposite, although admittedly my time in toe-brake aircraft is about a 10th of my time in the 12.

 

[185 Bushbird]

toe brakes

PA12 driver, my 12 fit me better than with heel brakes and extra cabin width than the 7 pa18's i've owned, still have a 18 now with heel brakes. Just flew a wide body 18 the other day with HO toe brakes and it fit me real good. I just find if i have to get on the brakes with my 18 that the rudder is right in the mid foot and not as much feel as on the toes. I am used to my C180 & 185 toe brakes also but i can put the seat back and stretch my legs to fit the toe brakes good. I give a bit of instruction in tailwheels and most guys get their feet too high on the pedals and overdue the brakes. I agree with you there is a ass for every saddle!

 

[stevensonjr]

I don't think I'd change a heel brake plane to a toe brake system. It's too easy to get used to both. My L-4 Cub is stock with heel brakes and is great. My Sport Cub (sold it)had toe brakes and worked well too. I flew to Alaska and back in my stock, heel brake Super Cub. My Husky has toe brakes and I switch between it and the L-4 without worrying about the brakes. Learn to use what has been designed into the airplane, there is no BEST system . Bill

 

[Gary Reeves]

Wellll, I have heel brakes on the Florida Cub and I love them. I have toe brakes on the Alaska cub and I wish I had the heel brakes back, BUT


But it is just getting used to what you are flying Both work fine with me.

I doubt that I will be excommunicated by some one from town. I doubt that I will be a witness to someone else landing where I do with the toe brakes.

BTW, my brakes were not set up right and I never used them except to park.

You kinda need a brake to take off on a sloped beach. I did it with out them.

GR

 

[Torch]

I am either on floats or skis and rarely on wheels. When on wheels I have heel brakes. 95 pct of the time I don't have any brakes. Real pilots don't need no stinking brakes.

 

[akwing]

ehh...toe breaks.

I have seen toe brakes on a cub where mechanics who installed them relieved the boot cowl by a couple of inches or so for the toe brake clearance. Flew the cub a bit...but I never did get used to them.

With that said, I wouldn't recommend toe brakes on a "working cub" (whatever a working cub is anyway). Unless your weird and pride yourself on being so then maybe toe brakes are for you.

Did I mention that toe brakes are worthless and should never be installed in a cub???

As far as I know, you don't need a field approval to remove the rear controls in a cub and if you do, no one will notice.

why the hell would you want toe brakes?

 

[sj]

All the cubs that with an N number that ends in "T" had factory toe brakes.

sj

 

[Steve's Aircraft (Steve)]

I learned to fly with heel brakes first in the Cub. My Pacer has toe brakes. The interesting thing is when things get dicey, and instinct takes over, my foot wants to go into the heel brake mode. No problem on the Cub, but when that happens in the Pacer, things get interesting. Even after thirty some years and a couple thousand hours in the Pacer if I have a cross- wind condition to contend with on the runway, I still mentally remind myself to set my feet up for toe brakes not heel.

Steve

 

[bob turner]

Tango Cub brakes are a disaster waiting to happen, especially if mis-adjusted.

 

[sj]

Especially from the back seat.. I have about 800 hours in the back of a Tango cub.

sj

 

[cubdrvr]

A local guy here wants to get a super cub. He broke both ankles on a parachutejump, and can’t operate heel brakes. Any options? STC‘s?

 

[Bill Rusk]

I think pretty much all CC Carbon Cubs have Toe Brakes. The Top Cub series has heel brakes. I think about 25% of the kits Javron sells are ordered with toe brakes, so that is another possibility. I think, unless they have been converted, the Tango cubs all had toe brakes. They are out there, but it might take a little longer to find one.

Bill

 

[RaisedByWolves]

A local guy here wants to get a super cub. He broke both ankles on a parachutejump, and can’t operate heel brakes. Any options? STC‘s?

Not sure if they are still making kits?

Cub Toe Brakes | H.O. Aircraft

www.hoaircraft.com

 

[skywagon8a]

A local guy here wants to get a super cub. He broke both ankles on a parachutejump, and can’t operate heel brakes. Any options? STC‘s?

Without knowing his exact situation, will blocks on the heal brake pedals make it any easier for him? If so, that should be relatively easy to accomplish. Without any special approvals.

 

[stewartb]

Find a Back Country or Mackey Cub for him to sit in. Top-mounted rudder pedals with toe brakes are a big improvement over Piper’s design.

I wonder if anyone’s challenged the FAA approval process by using the ADA as a basis for the change. That could be interesting.

 

[TR Dunn]

Mountain out of a mole-hill comes to mind. Having flown my stock "heel activated" brakes on our PA-18A hundreds of hours with mil-issue vapor barrier (bunny boots) with near zero flexibility in the ankle, I see no reason to alter, add complexity and perhaps weight, to an existing simple system that does exactly what it was designed to do. There was a period several decades ago when I flew with a fiberglass hard cast on my left ankle, I had no issue with braking, and I am just shy of 6' 4". The geometry to heel brake gets better for shorter folk. If this is truly an issue for someone, I would look at customizing seat geometry before converting to a toe brake.

TR