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A-36 Apache Dive Brakes
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05-24-2008 | 08:22 AM
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FliteMetal
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Houston, TX
RE: A-36 Apache Dive Brakes
I've had those photos in the Walkaround section of ScaleAero for many years. Its got some holes which fell victim to several server crashes but for the most part is intact. Tom's A-36 is actually a composite rebuild from multiple airframes. Its no longer here in Houston. It along with others Tom had here moved to Chino with his many others. His hangar in Chino can be seen online.
Almost forgot to post this...Tom's A-36 is painted silver, not natural aluminum to protect it. Don't know what the current finish is since it was being stripped down to bare essentials and reassembly. I'm guessing its still painted considering the rarity of the bird.
Note the hinge direction of the dive brake on top of the wing vs that of the dive brake on the bottom of each wing... It opens 180 degrees out from the opposite side of the wing. Can you imagine the pressure against the top dive brake? I can imagine this could become problematic and be a constant maintenance point... I took a moment to point to the hinge point of the top brake.
Its interesting you made your dive brakes functional. I understood they were of little positive influence and were wired shut by ground crews to prevent their ill effects.
Now, having stated that, I revisited resources to provide a back-up of what I was saying someone else claimed... : )
Never ever, say there is anything definitive about military aviation and traits of any one of them... Visiting here will provide a statement from the father of a documentarian and some additional opinion as to the origins of the wiring statements...
http://www.aerofiles.com/divebrakes.html
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