Glider Wheel Brakes

I know, I know. BTDT. Has anyone purchased a NEW sailplane lately,
and been happy with the wheel brake? The ONLY glider I've ever flown
with a decent (not great, but decent) wheel brake is the LVVSA's G103
Twin Astir. For me, a GREAT brake will REQUIRE moderation on my part
to keep from grinding the nose. I'm used to relatively modern
motorcycles, that will lock the front wheel with 2 or 3 fingers. I
would vastly rather scrape my nose, than hit the barbed wire at the
far end of a landout.

All the Schleichers built in the last 20+ years have excellent
Cleveland disc brakes.

On May 9, 8:15*pm, wrote:
I know, I know. *BTDT. *Has anyone purchased a NEW sailplane lately,
and been happy with the wheel brake? *The ONLY glider I've ever flown
with a decent (not great, but decent) wheel brake is the LVVSA's G103
Twin Astir. For me, a GREAT brake will REQUIRE moderation on my part
to keep from grinding the nose. *I'm used to relatively modern
motorcycles, that will lock the front wheel with 2 or 3 fingers. *I
would vastly rather scrape my nose, than hit the barbed wire at the
far end of a landout.

The Blanik L33 Solo drum wheel brake works extremely well.

Curt - 95

wrote:

I know, I know. BTDT. Has anyone purchased a NEW sailplane lately,
and been happy with the wheel brake? The ONLY glider I've ever flown
with a decent (not great, but decent) wheel brake is the LVVSA's G103
Twin Astir. For me, a GREAT brake will REQUIRE moderation on my part
to keep from grinding the nose.

The DG1000 has a good wheel brake. The Duo Discus has a good brake.

I'm used to relatively modern
motorcycles, that will lock the front wheel with 2 or 3 fingers. I
would vastly rather scrape my nose, than hit the barbed wire at the
far end of a landout.

Considering a modern two seat glider will be hitting the ground
at 600+ kg and 100 kph with one little near slick tyre and most
likely a grass surface you got no show of getting serious braking.

The DG1000 is tall enough to go _over_ the barbed wire fence. Got to
love a tall undercarriage.

If you hit the spot you should be able to get down in 200 meters over
a normal fence in no wind. If you don't hit the spot a wheel brake won't
save you.

--
Philip Plane _____
|
---------------( )---------------
Glider pilots have no visible means of support

On May 10, 2:15*am, wrote:
I know, I know. *BTDT. *Has anyone purchased a NEW sailplane lately,
and been happy with the wheel brake? *The ONLY glider I've ever flown
with a decent (not great, but decent) wheel brake is the LVVSA's G103
Twin Astir. For me, a GREAT brake will REQUIRE moderation on my part
to keep from grinding the nose. *I'm used to relatively modern
motorcycles, that will lock the front wheel with 2 or 3 fingers. *I
would vastly rather scrape my nose, than hit the barbed wire at the
far end of a landout.

Our club Discus has a brake that's well capable of standing it on it's
nose. I'm guessing the new Discuses (Discii?) are the same.

That's if the DG1000s undercarriage is still in place. The only one I get to see
regularly is developing a bad habit of sliding on it's belly. The braking
effect is poor on grass, but great on tar ;-)

Twin Astir wheel brake works OK.

Like the DG1000 the DuoDiscus wheel brake is good enough to make the nose wheel
work - (well, the Duo has a nose wheel). Presumably all the recent disk braked
aircraft have this ability. Of course, as pointed out elsewhere hitting the
right spot at the right speed is far more important than a strong brake. From
personal experience - too fast, down hill and a 30+ year old 4" drum are a
recipe for trouble. Under these circumstances the best advice I can give is "try
not to point it at anything you want to keep"...

Philip Plane wrote:
wrote:

I know, I know. BTDT. Has anyone purchased a NEW sailplane lately,
and been happy with the wheel brake? The ONLY glider I've ever flown
with a decent (not great, but decent) wheel brake is the LVVSA's G103
Twin Astir. For me, a GREAT brake will REQUIRE moderation on my part
to keep from grinding the nose.

The DG1000 has a good wheel brake. The Duo Discus has a good brake.

I'm used to relatively modern
motorcycles, that will lock the front wheel with 2 or 3 fingers. I
would vastly rather scrape my nose, than hit the barbed wire at the
far end of a landout.

Considering a modern two seat glider will be hitting the ground
at 600+ kg and 100 kph with one little near slick tyre and most
likely a grass surface you got no show of getting serious braking.

The DG1000 is tall enough to go _over_ the barbed wire fence. Got to
love a tall undercarriage.

If you hit the spot you should be able to get down in 200 meters over
a normal fence in no wind. If you don't hit the spot a wheel brake won't
save you.

You are comparing a hydraulic disk brake (G-103) to mechanical drum
brakes (most older ships). I can shut down my Genesis in about 100
feet because it has a nose wheel, so I don't have to worry about
scraping the nose or banging the tail down, because it doesn't have a
tail.
I love old stubby,
JJ

wrote:
I know, I know. BTDT. Has anyone purchased a NEW sailplane lately,
and been happy with the wheel brake? The ONLY glider I've ever flown
with a decent (not great, but decent) wheel brake is the LVVSA's G103
Twin Astir. For me, a GREAT brake will REQUIRE moderation on my part
to keep from grinding the nose. I'm used to relatively modern
motorcycles, that will lock the front wheel with 2 or 3 fingers. I
would vastly rather scrape my nose, than hit the barbed wire at the
far end of a landout.

On May 10, 3:22*am, Bruce wrote:
That's if the DG1000s undercarriage is still in place. The only one I get to see
* regularly is developing a bad habit of sliding on it's belly. The braking
effect is poor on grass, but great on tar ;-)

Twin Astir wheel brake works OK.

Like the DG1000 the DuoDiscus wheel brake is good enough to make the nose wheel
work - (well, the Duo has a nose wheel). Presumably all the recent disk braked
aircraft have this ability. Of course, as pointed out elsewhere hitting the
right spot at the right speed is far more important than a strong brake. From
personal experience - too fast, down hill and a 30+ year old 4" drum are a
recipe for trouble. Under these circumstances the best advice I can give is "try
not to point it at anything you want to keep"...



Philip Plane wrote:
wrote:

I know, I know. *BTDT. *Has anyone purchased a NEW sailplane lately,
and been happy with the wheel brake? *The ONLY glider I've ever flown
with a decent (not great, but decent) wheel brake is the LVVSA's G103
Twin Astir. For me, a GREAT brake will REQUIRE moderation on my part
to keep from grinding the nose.

The DG1000 has a good wheel *brake. The Duo Discus has a good brake.

I'm used to relatively modern
motorcycles, that will lock the front wheel with 2 or 3 fingers. *I
would vastly rather scrape my nose, than hit the barbed wire at the
far end of a landout.

Considering a modern two seat glider will be hitting the ground
at 600+ kg and 100 kph with one little near slick tyre and most
likely a grass surface you got no show of getting serious braking.

The DG1000 is tall enough to go _over_ the barbed wire fence. Got to
love a tall undercarriage.

If you hit the spot you should be able to get down in 200 meters over
a normal fence in no wind. If you don't hit the spot a wheel brake won't
save you.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

My question has been anwered. There seem to be several gliders being
produced today that have good brakes. Hooray! Maybe in 10 or 15
years I'll get to fly one! ;-D
Ah, to land on grass...... So far I've not had that experience.

On May 10, 3:12*pm, wrote:
snip
* *Ah, to land on grass...... So far I've not had that experience.

I fly in the air, but my ground runs are on grass...

Depending on what kind of grass it is, the experience is well - variable.

The stuff we call grass at my home field is just cut veldt grass. First time I
landed my Cirrus on it I thought I had a flat and landed on the rim.
Subsequently learned to lower the pressure a little in the tyre...

The bowling green that Lasham call a runway, by comparison, is like landing on
slightly damp velvet. If the grass is wet your directional control will be
limited, and braking is unpredictable. If the ground is hard there is very
little retardation, if the ground is soft enough that the wheel digs in the
chance of a ground loop starts to increase proportional to how short the ground
run is.

wrote:
On May 10, 3:22 am, Bruce wrote:
That's if the DG1000s undercarriage is still in place. The only one I get to see
regularly is developing a bad habit of sliding on it's belly. The braking
effect is poor on grass, but great on tar ;-)

Twin Astir wheel brake works OK.

Like the DG1000 the DuoDiscus wheel brake is good enough to make the nose wheel
work - (well, the Duo has a nose wheel). Presumably all the recent disk braked
aircraft have this ability. Of course, as pointed out elsewhere hitting the
right spot at the right speed is far more important than a strong brake. From
personal experience - too fast, down hill and a 30+ year old 4" drum are a
recipe for trouble. Under these circumstances the best advice I can give is "try
not to point it at anything you want to keep"...



Philip Plane wrote:
wrote:
I know, I know. BTDT. Has anyone purchased a NEW sailplane lately,
and been happy with the wheel brake? The ONLY glider I've ever flown
with a decent (not great, but decent) wheel brake is the LVVSA's G103
Twin Astir. For me, a GREAT brake will REQUIRE moderation on my part
to keep from grinding the nose.
The DG1000 has a good wheel brake. The Duo Discus has a good brake.
I'm used to relatively modern
motorcycles, that will lock the front wheel with 2 or 3 fingers. I
would vastly rather scrape my nose, than hit the barbed wire at the
far end of a landout.
Considering a modern two seat glider will be hitting the ground
at 600+ kg and 100 kph with one little near slick tyre and most
likely a grass surface you got no show of getting serious braking.
The DG1000 is tall enough to go _over_ the barbed wire fence. Got to
love a tall undercarriage.
If you hit the spot you should be able to get down in 200 meters over
a normal fence in no wind. If you don't hit the spot a wheel brake won't
save you.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

My question has been anwered. There seem to be several gliders being
produced today that have good brakes. Hooray! Maybe in 10 or 15
years I'll get to fly one! ;-D
Ah, to land on grass...... So far I've not had that experience.