I spoke to the owner of Vintage Brake on the phone recently and he
said that he's done about 18 glider brake systems so far. He said the
original design that appeared in Soaring magazine proved "too
effective" in that the glider tended to tip onto its nose, and
required subsequent modification to decrease the amount of braking
friction. He now uses a compound with the smallest coeffiecient of
friction available from the same compound manufacturer. This has
reportedly worked very well, and he claims that it is at least as
effective as a disc brake in terms of stopping power.

The turn around time given his backlog of work is about 2 months. He
suggested that if you wish to have your brake upgraded by him, that
you call to let him know, and then he will tell you about 3 days in
advance when to ship the brake via UPS. It will only take him a day
to work on it and to ship it back. That way you won't be without your
ship for an extended period of time. I believe he said there is a
small fee for putting you "ahead of the line" but I do not recall
exactly, so you should call (209-533-4346) to be certain. He is
located in Sonora, California which is approximately in between the
San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento. See
http://www.vintagebrake.com/default.htm for more info.


Greg Arnold wrote in message news:EPd1c.10206$Zp.1082@fed1read07...
I just had this done. $240. Haven't put the wheel back on the glider
yet, so I don't know if it was worth it.