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Dear Marv,

1. Brake lines. I have /3 braided steel coated teflon from the brakes to

a connection to the standard nyloflow lines on the bottom of the upper

skin in the wheelwell. No leaks in 300 hours. From my experience the

greatest stress on the brake-lines is during engine run-up when it

virtually takes two people on the brakes to hold it still. I assume that

previous brake failures have been at the attachment to the brakes where

heat would be involved. I would be interested (and worried) if anyone

knows of brake-line failure at any other point?

2. Outback gear. With the larger wheels I have operated out of some of

the roughest dirt airstrips in outback Australia without problems and I

doubt that this could be done with the standard wheels. However, besides

being a little heavier, they do  not fit easily into the stub wings -

particularly on the right side where the wing thickness is about 1/2"

less than on the left. To get adequate space one needs to either dig out

a space for the wheel in the bottom of the upper skin and cover with

3BID (plus dig out and reinforce the doors) - which I did - or have

speed bumps under the wings a la Glassair. The dougnuts were also too

compressed and I modified the wheel weldment to give another 1/2" of

compression.

3. Front gear restraining pin. The 1/2" pin that goes through the front

wheelwell to hold the overcentre link may tend to rotate during

extension and retraction. This will wear the phenolic bearing and the

whole assembly will eventually become quite loose. An adjustment to stop

rotation would be a good idea.

4. Mk11 tail. I dug out the old tail (heat gun and hacksaw) and

retrofitted the MK11. No big deal - most of the time was spent making

and subsequently filling the tail and elevators. The filling would have

been much less if I had thought to use a steel cradle rather than the

would one which bent and sagged enough to leave minor imperfections in

the tail. Also when filling anywhere remember that the micro shrinks a

little and its best to wait until well cured before sanding or you will

still have defects.

5. Ammeter. I had a 35 amp alternator and without thinking put in a 35

amp ammeter. Worked alright for a while and then had a tempory in-flight

smoke filled cabin after gear retraction. Eventually found that the

ammeter had completely melted - hydraulic pump needed more than 35 amps!

6. Another smoke filled cabin occurred with a colleage when his braided

steel covered manifold pressure line eroded his main battery line - the

whole panel was instantly electrified and he was lucky to land safely

with almost no vision!

7.Aileron wiring through the tip rib to the fron of the aileron is just

fine.

8. Screwless cowling. Does anyone have advice for putting piano-hinge

onto the lower firewall where the curvature is extreme? Did you build-up

to make the curve less or what?



David Byrnes

5.