One of our group discussions at the Rough River Fly-in was about the Brake/Rudder Pedal installation. Several of the other builders had modified their brake/rudder pedal system because they had learned that in the original GlaStar demo aircraft, the belly of the fuselage would flex and/or deform due to the pressure when applying the brake and/or rudder pedals. So when I got back to my project I looked very hard at system as described in the builder’s manual. Although the manual had added a layer of DBM to beef up the bottom of the fuselage, it just didn’t seem to be enough. As a result, I did what the manual called for but also made some other changes. Here is what I did. Because I had already installed the Rudder Control Assemblies per the manual, I cut an aluminum plate (.05 thick) and bolted it on top of the lower cage tabs then bolted the support brackets to these plates (see pictures below).  This transfers most of the pressure to the plate, which is attached to the cage thus preventing any distortion of the fuselage or movement of the brackets. This method follows all of the specifications outlined by the manual, in other words, no part of the system changes it is just made stronger with only a little weight gain, about 10 ounces per side.

    To prevent movement or distortion caused when you apply the brake pedals, I connected a piece of 1 x 2 inch aluminum rectangle tubing across the bottom of the cage. I then cut pieces of aluminum angle and bolted them to the rectangle tubing to which the master cylinder brakes were attached. Thus all of the pressure when braking will be transferred to the rectangle tubing rather than the fuselage floor. The weight gain here was 17.7 ounces per side. Since I used material that was readily available from Aircraft Spruce you could probably find lighter material to accomplish the same objective. I know for sure that this system will not fail in any way and it seems to me if any adjustments are ever needed they will be much simpler.

    As an Instructor, I have seen excited students push very hard on rudder pedal and brakes. And don’t forget about the pilots who don’t change their brake pads in time and are stomping on the brakes trying to get the plane stopped. For clarity, see the pictures that I have posted below. There were many great ideas and techniques shared by all of the builders. I can’t wait until next year.

Click on each Picture to Enlarge