Vintage Brake upgrade-JJ or anyone else who knows

Stewart Kissel wrote:

What is it that these guys do to improve braking?
Assuming all ships could use help, are some (say a
Ventus) more improved then others? How much $. Thank
you.


This is one of those periodic topics. Here's what I did to greatly improve
the braking of my old Tost drum brake. This is an old post.

-Doug




The article is by Tillman Steckner. I performed the modification exactly as
he outlines, not difficult if you are somewhat handy with tools. It
worked/works great. I can lift the tail off the ground if I want. The feel
is progressive and has no tendency to 'grab'. If you botch the job, not
likely in my opinion, then you simply have to replace one brake shoe because
that is all that is modified.

This has all been discussed here before. Do a google search on the newsgroup
for "brake".

Regards,

-Doug

From: "John Shelton"
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.soaring
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 20:16:41 GMT
Subject: TOST brake mod?

Years ago, a modification appeared in Soaring for TOST drum brakes. The idea
was to get the braking shoe (the one engaged to stop when rolling forward)
to push the non-braking shoe (used to stop when rolling backwards) against
the drum thereby actually being able to stop.

One friend did it to his DG300 and it worked great and is still working
great. I have also heard that if done wrong, you end up on your nose.

Does anyone know where I can get accurate sketches and description of this
mod? Apparently, the sketch in Soaring was wrong. And, do I really want to
do this?

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.

The old air-cooled volksie bugs were never known to have great brakes.
They weighed in at about 1600 lbs and had 80 sq in of brake area. A
15-meter might go 700 lbs and I doubt the common Tost brake has more
than 15 sq in.

There's just not that much braking surface to work our improvements on.

BJ

Stewart Kissel wrote:

What is it that these guys do to improve braking?
Assuming all ships could use help, are some (say a
Ventus) more improved then others? How much $. Thank
you.

I had Michael "Mercury" Morris overhaul my Tost P.O.S. err I mean drum
brake. The new pads and blueprinting (as described by Bob and others
in this thread) significantly improved braking and fade resistance.
In addition, Mr Morris found and corrected a worn/ovalized actuator
arm and hole on my Tost.

I would recommend Mr. Morris and his modifications highly.

That said, there is NO comparison between a (modified) Tost drum and
a Cleveland disc brake. Putting anything less than a 500X5 Cleveland
on a modern glider is ignorant.