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Jim,
There are better brakes, though I
don't have them on my plane as of yet. They're made by Grove Aircraft in
El Cajon, web address http://www.groveaircraft.com/.
Robbie Grove makes brakes and wheels on CNC machines out of solid aluminum
billet. They are beautifully made. I don't know if he has larger
brake pads or what particular brand of pads he's using, but I can ask when I'm
in San Diego tomorrow.
When I started flying my plane
regularly, I had a terrible shimmy decelerating through about 35 knots on
landing rollouts. After mistaking it for a nosewheel shimmy, we found that
my brand new Cleveland brakes had an uneven disk on one main mount that was
causing the problem. Since having the disk turned, the rollouts have
smoothed out, but I too took note of the amount of brake force
needed to stop the plane in a reasonable distance. I imagine the IV's
have it just as bad if not worse. The heat buildup from these high
pressure brake applications not only wears down the pads faster but can
contribute to warping the disks.
It would seem to me that what's needed
are larger brake pads with possibly an additional caliper to push
them.
I'll report back to the list with my
findings after I talk to Grove Aircraft about it.
Skip Slater
N540ES
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