Thicker rotor upgrade taildragger?

I do not know of anyone that has done the thicker disc upgrade on a taildragger but I am leaning towards doing it. While talking to Parker/ Cleveland about it they concurred that unless you change the hydraulics the brakes will not be stronger but with the thicker disc you will have less brake fade. That is what I am after and less heat might be easier on the pads.
I will be replacing worn rotors soon so this would be the time.
Hoping an engineer in this field of expertise will comment on this. I do not want a stronger brake just less fade.

Thanks,

I'm not an engineer but have experience with brake fade on the race track. I doubt thicker rotors would help. They are heavier and will increase the rotational mass requireing even bigger brakes to stop them plus we do not have power brakes to help the pedal pressure. First thing is to occasionally bleed the brakes to remove any moisture build up. Two additional things will help if you experience brake fade which I have yet to experience in my 800+ tailwheel hours. First, flush the brake lines with new fluid more often. Brake fluid is hygroscopic so absorbs moisture. The open brake system in an RV doesn't help this. The second is to check your braking technique. You may be either braking too much or dragging your brakes. Not assuming you land too fast but this is a common mistake I see a lot of RV pilots doing, landing slower and letting the plane rollout before applying brakes to minimize the pressure and time using them and will make a tremendous difference.

Larco - what problem are you trying to fix?

Another cause of (brake fade) is the pads being held off the rotor by off gassing of the pad material burning, one of the reasons for drilled and slotted rotors, they allow a path for the gasses to escape and allow the brake liner to remain in contact with the rotor.

While talking to Parker/ Cleveland about it they concurred that unless you change the hydraulics the brakes will not be stronger but with the thicker disc you will have less brake fade.

Click to expand...

I've installed and flown them on an A-model, and that's exactly what you get, less fade. No fade simply means they are as powerful near the end of braking as they were at the beginning of brake application. It also means that a subsequent long, long taxi in the wind (think landing 27 at S&F, for example) is less likely to overheat the system and bake an o-ring, just because the disc temperature was lower at the start of taxi.

I think they are a worthwhile upgrade on an A, for several reasons. The only downside on a taildragger is one pound more weight.

Thanks for the replies. I have a couple of friends that have done the upgrade to their A models and they really like it but was a little concerned about the effect on a taildragger where a stronger brake would not necessarily be a benefit. I don't really need them in everyday flying but am going to replace the rotors soon anyway. If we decide to go the thicker ones I will report back. Already have the spacers for the brake assembly so will only have to set the wheel out 1/16 as we did on the A models to accommodate the wheelpant.

A great forum to hash around thoughts!

Thanks,

Brake fluid

It was mentioned that brake fluid is hygroscopic but this is not the case with mineral oil based aircraft brake fluid. Very true in the automotive world though.

Keith