Brakes?

Dallas wrote:
On Sat, 9 Feb 2008 19:39:06 -0800 (PST), WingFlaps wrote:

Simple question, when refuelling should brakes be on or off (for a
light plane)? I've been told both answers with logical reasons for
both. What should I do???

One day as a student I went out to preflight the airplane before the
instructor came out.

I saw the parking brake and realized I'd never operated it before so I gave
it a good pull. Well, it worked find... but it also wouldn't release.

The instructor came out and we worked on trying to get it to release for 45
minutes. The lesson I took from that experience was, never use the damn
thing unless you absolutely have to.



You learned the wrong lesson. Let me ask. If you ever had trouble
starting an airplane would have given up on any planes but gliders.

If the plane is on an incline, or there's any chance someone will lean
on it and start it rolling, set the brakes. Otherwise, I can't imagine
that it makes the slightest difference.

--
-Ed Falk,
http://thespamdiaries.blogspot.com/

"Thomas Borchert" wrote in message

I'm asking about refuelling, not parking per se.


What's the difference?

Refuelling is short term.

Pilots don't generally tie their airplanes down, apply control locks etc
when they refuel, but they do when they park, so there's definately a
difference.

-c

"William Hung" wrote in message
news:7a4547db-723a-4c24-96d0-

I just recently reallized that these even came with parking brakes.
lol My CFI never pointed them out to me and I never really noticed.

It's right next to the ejection seat handle...

...

They're hardly ever used in Cessnas and so some people make a habit of just
blowing past it on the checklists. If you're ever trying to taxi for
takeoff, though, and for some reason the plane won't move easily or it keeps
pulling to one direction, remember the parking brake. If that happens,
bring the throttle to idle and engage and release the parking brake a couple
of times; sometimes they stick. Pretty rare, but if you rent for two or
three hundred hours you might see it happen.

Always note it doing your checklists, though, because if you don't have far
to taxi you might not notice it until you're on your takeoff roll.

-c

"Edward A. Falk" wrote in message
...
If the plane is on an incline, or there's any chance someone will lean
on it and start it rolling, set the brakes. Otherwise, I can't imagine
that it makes the slightest difference.

--
-Ed Falk,
http://thespamdiaries.blogspot.com/

And, therein lies the real issue.

I don't recall whether I even did put self service fuel in a high wing
Cessna, and the ones I flew all had the optional inspection steps in any
case. But your post makes a more than sufficient case for setting, and
testing, the brakes before climbing up the ladder and leaning over the wing
with the hose!

Actually, I was taught that the parking brakes were essentially useless and
were difficult to set and worse to release; and AFAIK, I never did try
setting and releasing them.

I hereby resolve to do better.

Peter

Peter Dohm wrote:
Actually, I was taught that the parking brakes were essentially useless and
were difficult to set and worse to release; and AFAIK, I never did try
setting and releasing them.

I was taught to set the parking brake during the pre-flight. This meant
it couldn't roll after I untied it; the brake was released when I was
ready to taxi. It was set again during the run-up, and released, again,
when ready to taxi. Not as a substitute for keeping my feet firmly on the
brake pedals during the run-up, but as insurance in case I accidentally
lightened the pressure.

Interestingly, setting it was on the checklist, but releasing it wasn't.
It was pretty obvious when I forgot to release it.

.... Alan
--
Alan Gerber
PP-ASEL
gerber AT panix DOT com

Alan Gerber wrote:
I was taught to set the parking brake during the pre-flight.

I forgot to mention, this was in a Piper Warrior. I don't know if the
school has a similar procedure for Cessnas, or if there's something
different about their brakes.

.... Alan
--
Alan Gerber
PP-ASEL
gerber AT panix DOT com

"Alan Gerber" wrote in message
...
Alan Gerber wrote:
I was taught to set the parking brake during the pre-flight.

I forgot to mention, this was in a Piper Warrior. I don't know if the
school has a similar procedure for Cessnas, or if there's something
different about their brakes.

... Alan
--
Alan Gerber
PP-ASEL
gerber AT panix DOT com

My current thinking on the matter is that using the parking brake at least
once for each flight is a very good idea--and almost certainly reduces the
probability that it will either stick or leak. Basically, some of the best
day to day maintenance for a lot of things is simply to use them.

Peter

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 02:42:05 -0800 (PST), buttman
wrote:

On Feb 10, 1:15 am, WingFlaps wrote:
On Feb 10, 5:15 pm, wrote:

WingFlaps wrote:
Simple question, when refuelling should brakes be on or off (for a
light plane)? I've been told both answers with logical reasons for
both. What should I do???

If you find yourself chasing the airplane across the ramp, the brakes
should probably be on.

Parking brakes shouldn't be used for extended periods; that's what
chokes are for.

I'm asking about refuelling, not parking per se.

Cheers

I fueled light planes dozens of times, at dozens of airports. I've
never used the parking brake ever. If the pump happens to be on an
incline, I'll either find chocks, or once I had my student hold the
plane by the prop while I fueled because we couldn't find any chocks
laying around.

I've never resorted to chocks for refueling in all these years. Just
the parking brake unless it was REALLY windy. :-)) OTOH I don't
leave the plae without using chocks.

Roger (K8RI)
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Now that I think about it, I always set the brakes because the only way
to know if there's a slight incline is to wait to see if it starts rolling.
Plus, you never know if someone will come around and lean on it.

--
-Ed Falk,
http://thespamdiaries.blogspot.com/