Just had to get in on this one.Have flown my taildragger with the original
landing retracts with cable brakes,mechanical drums connected together and
activated together as per the original design.They worked pretty well
except the drums would warp with heat issues.Then I went with the fixed
landing gear and installed the Great Plains disc brakes with heel activated
cylinders.They worked ok but did not have the stopping power of the
drums.They also proved that I could be as good a dancer as Fred Astaire if
I practiced enough.Rudder sensitivity is not a problem until you add heel
brakes.My good friend Noel Breaux decided to buy Jim Hills trigear KR but
needed Jim to install a hand brake as Noel had an artifical left leg from
below the knee.Jim agreed and installed a differential hand brake to the
forward side of the front spar.Noel loved the plane and flew it till he
passed away with cancer.Stay with me.Noel's wife asked me to sell the
plane.The new owner wanted toe brakes so I changed them to the original
configuration.I kept the hand brake assembly and after some time and
thought decided to try differential hand brakes on my taildragger.At first
it appeared to be as dumb an idea as it sounds.I had to reach up and bend
my body to reach the levers.Not a good idea when landing a KR
taildragger.The Great Plains brakes became much stronger with the levers
than with heel cylinders and that made control a problem.What I did next
would sell me on the whole project.I had a control line handle with cable
length adjustment left over from my model airplane days and came up with a
simple connection to the levers at a point half way up the lever.just a
loop on each lever that aloud me to apply the brakes without reaching
except to reach for the control line handle in my lap.Landings have become
a none event.The rudder pedals are used to point the plane and brakes are
used to stop the plane and I don't have to worry about one driving the
other.Tommy W.PS some one offered to send me a deposit on the plane and as
bad as I could the money,I just could not sell the plane.Guess they will
pry it from my cold dead hands.
