Microlighters

Looking to put disk brakes onto the front end of an Aquilla. Anyone done this before if so, do you have pictures and price or have a name of the contact that could help me with this. (this is to help on those extremely short field landings)

I am not sure if the Aquilla front wheel suspension can cope with the forces of a disc brake.
For good stopping power you would want rear wheel disc brakes.
A friend of mine built rear wheel brakes for the Aquilla. He built the prototype, which unfortunately had some design faults. I am not sure if he will continue with the project.
I would be interested in fitting main wheel brakes. The nose wheel is a weak link in most aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage, and I would try to reduce the forces on it.

Regards,
Arnulf

Arnulf wrote:I am not sure if the Aquilla front wheel suspension can cope with the forces of a disc brake.
For good stopping power you would want rear wheel disc brakes.

Hi,

Arnulf makes some very valid points.

Below photo's of a front disc brake assembly.

One of my hanger buddies Jan is busy installing rear disc brakes on his Aquilla. Batman - let me know if you want his contact details.

Regards
John ZU-sEXY

John, thanks that would be kind of you. Would like his telephone number. If you could PM it me

Thanks

Hi guys,

I agree with Arnulf that rear wheel braking would be better - the rear wheels touch down first, so in an emergency, the brakes can be on as soon as you make contact. I've played around with the idea of Hydraulic rear brakes for the Aquilla for some time now, so maybe we can brainstorm some ideas here.

John, if you could also PM Jan's number to me, I'd like to have a chat with him.

Regards,

Alan
ZU-CDP

Alan, I do agree with you as well concerning the rear brake system. There are about 7 pilots at our airfield that are looking to purchase disk brakes for the Aquilla's and Windlass if the price is right.

Hi Guys,

Jan cannot get online at the moment but asked me to post his cell number for interested parties.

You can contact Jan on oh83 780 550five

Regards
John ZU-sEXY

Batman wrote:Alan, I do agree with you as well concerning the rear brake system. There are about 7 pilots at our airfield that are looking to purchase disk brakes for the Aquilla's and Windlass if the price is right.

I would also be interested.

Have a look here. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5819
The brakes Boet is building might do the trick. With the large number of Windlass/Aquilla trikes in SA, it might be a financial preposition to adapt these brakes for the Windlass/Aquilla and offer them as a retro fit. Possibly Solowings might consider offering these brakes as an option for new aircraft.

Regards,
Arnulf

Has anyone got an Aquilla undercarriage leg, i.e the suspension tube and the two axle support tubes, preferrably with wheel, that I can use for development work on the brakes?

Batman and all , where are the mod aprovals for the disk brakes ???
I have flown may hours on Aquillas and never neede any brakes better than the standard brake as supplied by SOLO wings ?
If you brakes are not up to standard , remove the drum , sand blast it to clear the glasing and tighted your seatbelt ?
Leprachaun
Ps Batman give me a call -

Hi Leprachaun,

I'll do the 40 hrs Mod approval on my plane once the prototype has been properly engineered, and will be working together with Aiden at Solo Wings, as he is keen to have a well designed, approved rear brake mod available as an option.
We have to put a lot of thought into the mod as it's not just a question of having strong brakes, we have to consider the bending forces on the suspension arm and axle braces under braking, and the stress on the wheel itself.

Your'e right, the standard brakes are fine under normal circumstances, they've served me well over the last 7 years, BUT when it comes to that dead stick into a short field one day, it could save you from going into the fence.