bruce88123

Uhh, those ARE arresting cables as mentioned in the previous post.

Definition:aircraft arresting cable

(DOD, NATO) That portion of an aircraft arresting system which spans the runway surface or flight deck landing area and is engaged by the aircraft arresting hook. Also called aircraft arresting wire.

Voodoo Mech

My Feedback: (2)

Yes. If you are still interested, there are some photos on my page that shows a brake system I have on my LT40. It was fun building them they are fun to play with.
CG

jdb000001

Just put floats on it and land on the lake.

The drogue chute would be a nice effect, you could rig the servo that deploys it to release it in case of emergency. Would be a nice effect, but don't know if I'd want it on a trainer - would be a disaster to accidentally deploy it in-flight.
If you are running the ailerons with two servos on separate channels (can't do this using a Y-cord), see if the transmitter has an airbrake function (both ailerons up, elevator down at the same time, I think). That will give you more drag on landing.

Seriously though, if the grass is cut short enough, landing in grass instead of on a hard surface would slow it down a lot faster. If you are already using a grass landing strip, go with the smaller wheels.

forestroke

if you're already on grass, you don't need smaller wheels, you need better skills.

jdb000001

I only mentioned the wheels because he said he bought 4" wheels to replace the stock ones - thought it might slow down a little better with the original 2 3/4" size.

agshane

My Feedback: (14)

Yup that be cool! Except the plane would turn hard right as soon as you released the breaks....

KC36330

Only if the right break i slow to release, engine torque tends to give a slight lefty but no more so then regular take off.

kc

Wild Foamy

it would work with a twin (with counter-rotating engines) or a jet as these would not be affected by the counter clockwise spinning of a prop.

KC36330

breaks work on ALL models (and full scale) regardless of engine count or type. only problem I've ever had with propped planes is they seam to have a much higher tendency to slid the tires when breaking with power.

kc

sopwith

I built a set of main landing gear brakes on an old goldberg .25 trainer. It is cheap, easy and quite effective. It operates whenever the down elevator is applied. I used a servo with 2 thin cables from the servo arms that pulls a steel lever (with a piece of fuel line slipped over it) on each gear strut that just rubs against the tires. It doesn't lock up the wheels, just adds lots of friction. I like to tinker, and no one else at the flying club I was in at the time had ever seen brakes before, so it apparently is quite novel to have brakes. It does prove to be handy at times. If you think about it awhile you will come up with a design that works.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

No one seemed to ask the question that, to me, is the next obvious one. Are you flying on pavement or grass? The issue of whether or not it's a trainer is neither here or there. If on pavement, then you will have this problem no matter what you fly so you have to make adjustments to your flying technique... especially engine tuning, idle settings, and approach speeds. Not brakes.

If you are on grass, then it comes more in the category of practice landings so as not to come is as hot and learning how to place the plane where you want it on landing. That falls true, especially on pavement, it is more critical to have a slower idle speed and landing speed so that it does not roll out as far. You can also try some tow-in on the main gear. That will also slow things down a bit.

LT-40

My Feedback: (2)

Hey fooseball, I have a friend that makes and , I think he still sells nose gear brakes. I have flown one of his planes with them and they work really well. It is coupled to the down elevator so that as soon as you land, you just touch down on the elevator, and errrrch, you'er stopped. He doesn't use drum brakes and his whole system weighs verry verry little. I'm not sure on this, but I think its about 1 oz. If you are interested, then I could probably give him a call to get the details about cost and stuff and see if he is willing to ship it to you.
But like others have said, brakes on a trainer are not at all neccessary. With a trainer, just hold out your flair until that plane is flying so slow and so low, that it just drops down on the runway. This way there is not so much foreward momentum and it won't roll much. Also make sure your planes idle speed is set low enough.

LT-40

foosball_movie

Yes, I think it would be fun to play around with some landing gear. He may contact me at:

[link=http://www.foosmovie.com/foosball_movie_documentary_contact_table_soccer.ht m]Contact[/link]

Just one question...

What happens if I need down elevator while taxiing in windy conditions? Can I simply install another servo? I have a 6 channel TX/RX.

LT-40

My Feedback: (2)

Sorry for gettin your hopes up foose. I called the guy and it turns out that he's not making nose wheel brakes anymore. He said however that you should still be able to find a set made by dubro online.

LT-40

edberg

I used to be like you, I wanted to put a smoke system in my trainer.

forestroke

what about these solutions:

1. use a braking plate that uses the spring of the nose gear as a pivot. see attached picture
2. use two nose wheels and two servos tied to two channels. two nose wheels are close together at the front. when you want no brakes, they are parallel to each other, when you want to brake, you toe them in a little. the more toe in, the more braking action.

VOILA!