spyder0069

Some of the places I wanted to take video of do not have long runways or are paved meaning I'll have a long rollout. So I decided to fabricate a simple brake system. Could not find any I could just buy other than expensive air brakes or the one magnetic brake out there and I wanted a setup that would control the two rear wheels on my Carl Goldberg Eagle II platform.

I just took 3/4" x 1/16" flat stock aluminum that you can get from any Lowe's, Menards, or hardware store and cut it down the middle leaving about half an inch at the end. I then bent that portion up around 110 degrees (enough to mount flush with the tire) then drilled through and used a washer as a spacer between the new arms and the aluminum landing gear. Mounted a HS-85MG metal gear micro servo in the fuse and ran fishing line through short half inch pieces of plastic antenna tubing that are glued into the sides of the fuse. The fishing line attaches to adjustable clevises so that one can make sure you get equal brake on both sides. When pressure is applied the arms rub the tires. The servo is on the gear channel and you can adjust the amount of brake by your travel adjustment on your computer radio. I found no return spring necessary for the brakes as without pressure the model rolls fine. So flip the gear switch and the plane comes to a quickened stop. Whole setup weighs about an ounce. :^) Initial kitchen floor tests show great results! Can’t wait to try it out next season. Cold and snowy here in IL now.

spyder0069

seems like rcu is having a problem with the pics as attachments. Here are the pics uploaded to my site:

www.spyderrobotics.com/planes/brake1.jpg

www.spyderrobotics.com/planes/brake2.jpg

hover_lover

Well done!

A small spring installed on each side between the servo horn and clevis might ensure equal braking. Haven't tried it - just a thought.

Again, very nicely done.

Rob

spyder0069

Thanks for the suggestion! I had considered that and will add them if there is a problem. I only had a few small springs on hand and didn't know how much pressure would be needed to stop so I figured it would take some experimentation with spring tension/size. Hard to sneak away from the family for that long during this holiday season. :^) Hopefully I can get it close enough with the adjustable cleveses. Seems to stop nice and straight so far. By adjusting the pressure from the radio its nice because it doesn't just lock the tires and you can adjust how much rollout you will get. I may experiment with my JR 6102 to see if I can mix it to a button instead of the gear toggle. Seems like it would work nice to be able to toggle the brakes instead of throwing the stop lever. :^) Wish it had one of those proportional finger slides on the side like some radios have. That would be ideal.

JettPilot

My Feedback: (6)

Nice setup ! Snow is melting, go do that test before the next storm comes

JettPilot

daubut

Very cool I like it! Great idea. Might have to do something like that on my new plane I'm building for my FPV flying machine. Once again great info from here, and a great example of what you can do when you think outside the box. Great job.