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But it was enough to allow the LG to retract fully. Ran the gear up and down about a dozen times. Works great.

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So it's back to bleeding the brakes again. Pull the lines out so there's no high spots and there's an "all up" run to the master cylinder. Connect the bleed contraption and wait.

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Put a bit of fluid in the reservoir and observe bubbles. Air is being pushed out and replaced by fluid. That's good. Watched this for almost an hour till the bubbles stopped and the reservoir began to fill. Shut the bleed contraption, stuff the line b

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Button the cowl and tidy things up. Looked out the door (West) and the weather was calm, not many 150's in the pattern. Looks like a great time to go and try it out. Filthy from the elbows to the finger tips so I have to hit the WC and clean myself bef

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Walked down to the corner of the hanger to the next line of hangers where there is a WC. This is what I saw to the Southeast. Not looking good. Went to the WC and cleaned up. Looked even more threatening after the wash. Decided to close up and go hom

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And none too soon! This is what I hit departing the airport. We'll see what the weather is like tomorrow morning. Maybe try to fly then.

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2010 07 08 - Back to the airport and back under the aircraft. With more aggressive abrasives, I was able to relieve the rub just a bit more. Not much at all, as you can see from the picture.

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2010 07 07 - Back to retraction tests. Thought that the fixtures sticking up off the caliper might be a problem. Replaced them with the 90 degree fitting and a straight hose end. Much neater and more compact, but I'll have to bleed the brakes again whe

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More retraction tests. Closer, but still won't quite go into up lock. Maybe 1/4" (0.635 cm) from engaging. Back under for a couple more hours before I finally see where the blue from the fitting is rubbing on the side of the tunnel where the seat

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2010 07 06 - Wondered how the new brake would work on retraction. Set up for retraction testing. LG lever went to about 1/2" (1.275 cm) from the up lock and wouldn't go any further. Hitting something. Spent several hours trying to see what what

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Safety wired the bolts and check the installation. Pushed the aircraft and the brake stopped it. Held the brake and tried to push it aircraft. It wouldn't budge. Very good. Pulled it out of the hanger, started it up, let it warm properly and taxi tes

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I stuffed the brake line back into the aircraft, tied it all down and screwed it to the swing arm. Bolted the new caliper to the brake disk and torqued it to 90 in-lbs.

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After I put the aircraft back into the hanger, I loosened the master cylinder and rotated it about 30 degrees to the starboard. I'll see how that works tomorrow.

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This is the Grove brake caliper I am using. It may not be the perfect replacement for the Europa brake but it sure works. I've e-mailed Robby at Grove and asked if he'd like me to send the old Europa brake caliper to see if they have a better replacemen

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After much flailing about which shall not be documented here, I went back to the double puck brake and spent a couple days trying to bleed the new system. Without much luck. I called Robby at Grove Aircraft and he pointed out that if there were any high

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Went home and pulled a brake caliper off my Little Toot project. Brought it out to the hanger and the darn thing fits. So I have ordered a single puck version of the same brake caliper. When it arrives, it will go on and I'll replace the banjo hose end

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2010 06 21 - What's this, the 4th or 5th try at getting a seal on the banjo to the brake caliper? Still leaks.

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