Disk Brakes & Trim Actuator for ZU-BST!

[John.com]

I write foremost to commend Jenya (Aerossa) on the fantastic job he has done on converting my much beloved but slightly slow (50mph in the cruise) and badly-braked (is that a term?) Aquilla to disk brakes on all three wheels and adding a trim actuator which now gives a cruise speed of around 62mph!

Firstly, I must add that I chose to have disks on ALL three wheels and not just the rear two after having 'raced' offroad/MX for some years and realising the CRITICAL nature of front wheel braking!!! On a dirt or road bike, I believe that mastering front wheel braking can increase your lap speed by up to 20%, so effective is that front wheel under braking!

So, after saying my goodbyes at Petit this morning, I flew the Beautiful Seductive Temptress back to Aeroden and was DELIGHTED with the results!

Firstly, when doing my engine run-up, whereas normally she would creep forward at around 4000rpm due to the poor quality braking from the drum brake on the front wheel, NOW she sits STUCK to the ground and simply does not move, even at FULL engine revs!!

Then, when I applied full power for take off something did not feel right! She felt VERY under powered! Was it the airfield surface, or was it diminished engine performance? Then, very quickly I realised that my left foot was resting ever so slightly on the brake pedal!!! Releasing the brake fully caused her to lurch forward!

On climb out, with the trim right back to 'SLOW', she climbed like never before! (FYI: SLOW trim gives around 45mph cruise speed)

In the cruise, by trimming the wing to 'FAST' with a switch on the flight deck, I was quite amazing to feel the 'neutral position' of the bar move backwards until she settled in to a comfortable cruise at 60-63mph. With ever so slight backwards pressure (simply resting your arm) on the crossbar, she cruises at 65mph. Needless to say my groundspeed at times was around 75mph and so was back at Aeroden in no time at all!

On approaching Aeroden it was then a case of trimming the wing back to 'SLOW' in preparation for the land!

With a quartering tailwind of about 10knots (where did THAT come from? ) I came in hot and greased it on Aeroden 18!

Applying brakes on landing was a feeling like I have never experienced! INSTANT response and stopping. I would guess that if I needed to do a short-field landing, even on a DOWNHILL field, I could stop BST in about 30m!!! Perhaps even less . . . . in time I will conduct some tests!!

SO SO CHUFFED!

Thank you Jenya for a job very well done!

So, some pictures . . . .

Front Wheel Disk Brake

Disk Brake Master Cylinder and Pedal

Detail of Front Wheel Disk Brake

Left Rear Wheel Disk Brake

Right Rear Wheel Disk Brake

Trim Actuator

[KlapperKnop]

Nice John. The TRIM Actuator is really getting my attention.

[bobthebuilder]

Looks good mate.

[vanish]

john, brilliant choice on brakes, if memory serves me well u had a close altercation with a farm gate on a wet grass strip, three wheels just does it better
your choice of attentuator, if i have it right jennya offers a local as well as imported unit. what was ur choice on this
flying lekka &
keep em safe my good man
steve

[John.com]

john, brilliant choice on brakes, if memory serves me well u had a close altercation with a farm gate on a wet grass strip, three wheels just does it better
your choice of attentuator, if i have it right jennya offers a local as well as imported unit. what was ur choice on this
flying lekka &
keep em safe my good man
steve

Thanks Steve!

The trim actuator was the imported one. It was a tad more expensive and took a little while to ship but was well worth it. I took Jenya's advice around the imported one being stronger and 'built for the job'.

[Bundy]

No more "bushwacking" for you John...

Congrats...you now own the only Aquilla with a brake pedal....

....and brakes!

Mod looks good, cant be too many Aquilla's around with those additions.

[John.com]

No more "bushwacking" for you John...

Congrats...you now own the only Aquilla with a brake pedal....

....and brakes!

Mod looks good, cant be too many Aquilla's around with those additions.

Thanks Alan!

Yeah, I guess the 'bushwhacker' title is something that's with me for life!

You CANNOT believe how amazing the brakes are! It's almost like I want to rush out to fly just to test the brakes again!

[Bundy]

Yeah, I guess the 'bushwhacker' title is something that's with me for life!

Wear the title with pride "Daniel son".

Unfortunately they invented the "Internet" which turns those small embarrasing moments into Intercontinental ones!

John, I'd be interested to know what the various trim settings do to your fuel consumption and RPM on the 582?

[John.com]

John, I'd be interested to know what the various trim settings do to your fuel consumption and RPM on the 582?

Hi Alan,

I will do some more thorough tests when it is not so friggin' cold!

Seriously, I was looking to see if anyone posted about a DRUNK pilot over Hartebeespoort Dam on Wednesday morning! Such was my frozen mouth that my radio call was something like " . . . aaaar-toh-eeeees-oooooort aaaam . . . . "!! No, I can't actually write phonetically how I actually pronounced it! I literally could not talk! FYI: My iPhone, which I use to run Air Nav Pro, gave a 'Shutting Down - FREEZING' message and then turned off! And to make it even worse, I forgot my flight suit back home and so flew in jeans!!

Anyway, back to the matter at hand . . . . initially I would say that the increase in RPM is not that significant (maybe from 5,500rpm up to 5,800rpm - you definitely have to add some juice to maintain level flight) but that the fuel consumption increased from around 15 litres per hour up to 19 litres per hour, so I would say commensurate with the 'Drag is proportional to Speed SQUARED' rule, not that I would want to crunch the actual numbers right now!

Anyway, as I do some more testing I will let you know!

In short, having 20% more speed under my belt changes the game somewhat! At least now I can fly with my Bantam-buddies without having to get a gym workout in the process!!

[Thatchman]

Nice John

Disc brakes are a big plus and you will be really thankful when u need them. I had to leave the runway once in my Raptor cause I would not stop before trees and did some grass cutting. Very lucky that there were no rocks hidden in the grass. Another time in the GT landed on the downhill runway at Rietties after mis-reading the wind direction with a 15km downwing and would have gone into the fence if it were not for the disc brakes.

Both times landed downwind - but thats another topic. (learned to fly up the windsock towards the pole)

[AWACS]

John,
Looks super!
Some indication of price on this job?

[John.com]

John,
Looks super!
Some indication of price on this job?

Hi AWACS!

I will need to break the account down as Jenya did quite a few other odds-and-ends, including adding full rear controls A-N-D straightening/respraying my forks!

I'll check and revert.

[Louis Cole]

No more "bushwacking" for you John...

Congrats...you now own the only Aquilla with a brake pedal....

....and brakes!

Mod looks good, cant be too many Aquilla's around with those additions.

Thanks Alan!

Yeah, I guess the 'bushwhacker' title is something that's with me for life!

You CANNOT believe how amazing the brakes are! It's almost like I want to rush out to fly just to test the brakes again!

John I'm drooling just seeing the pics of your new disc brakes. You're welcome to come and test them at Jakkalsdans and collect the sign (Rhusjohn.comleyfolia) for your bar from the tree that was named in your honour. There is no need for it anymore.

[nicow]

What did you pay for the actuator,and is the mod approved?

[John.com]

What did you pay for the actuator,and is the mod approved?

Hi Nico!

Sorry for late response! I missed your post.

Yes, modification reports were done for both brakes and actuator.

The actuator cost was R13,000. Please get an updated quote from Jenya if interested.

Cheers,

John