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Dear Marv,
1. Brake lines. I have /3 braided steel coated teflon from the brakes to
a connection to the standard nyloflow lines on the bottom of the upper
skin in the wheelwell. No leaks in 300 hours. From my experience the
greatest stress on the brake-lines is during engine run-up when it
virtually takes two people on the brakes to hold it still. I assume that
previous brake failures have been at the attachment to the brakes where
heat would be involved. I would be interested (and worried) if anyone
knows of brake-line failure at any other point?
2. Outback gear. With the larger wheels I have operated out of some of
the roughest dirt airstrips in outback Australia without problems and I
doubt that this could be done with the standard wheels. However, besides
being a little heavier, they do  not fit easily into the stub wings -
particularly on the right side where the wing thickness is about 1/2"
less than on the left. To get adequate space one needs to either dig out
a space for the wheel in the bottom of the upper skin and cover with
3BID (plus dig out and reinforce the doors) - which I did - or have
speed bumps under the wings a la Glassair. The dougnuts were also too
compressed and I modified the wheel weldment to give another 1/2" of
compression.
3. Front gear restraining pin. The 1/2" pin that goes through the front
wheelwell to hold the overcentre link may tend to rotate during
extension and retraction. This will wear the phenolic bearing and the
whole assembly will eventually become quite loose. An adjustment to stop
rotation would be a good idea.
4. Mk11 tail. I dug out the old tail (heat gun and hacksaw) and
retrofitted the MK11. No big deal - most of the time was spent making
and subsequently filling the tail and elevators. The filling would have
been much less if I had thought to use a steel cradle rather than the
would one which bent and sagged enough to leave minor imperfections in
the tail. Also when filling anywhere remember that the micro shrinks a
little and its best to wait until well cured before sanding or you will
still have defects.
5. Ammeter. I had a 35 amp alternator and without thinking put in a 35
amp ammeter. Worked alright for a while and then had a tempory in-flight
smoke filled cabin after gear retraction. Eventually found that the
ammeter had completely melted - hydraulic pump needed more than 35 amps!
6. Another smoke filled cabin occurred with a colleage when his braided
steel covered manifold pressure line eroded his main battery line - the
whole panel was instantly electrified and he was lucky to land safely
with almost no vision!
7.Aileron wiring through the tip rib to the fron of the aileron is just
fine.
8. Screwless cowling. Does anyone have advice for putting piano-hinge
onto the lower firewall where the curvature is extreme? Did you build-up
to make the curve less or what?

David Byrnes
5.