Well, I hit a snag yesterday morning. I was going out to do some flight testing and to get some video of flying and.....
My brakes were bit sluggish and/or loose the other day so I adjusted the tension on the springs and also found that my pucks were not all that close to the discs. I tightened up the pucks and then backed them out very slightly. The brakes seemed better, but not perfect. In my opinion they're just used for stopping an d very slow speeds so I decided to go fly. The taxiway to the runway in use is about 3000' long. I taxied to the runway, stopped to hook up my shoulder harness, and do a high power run up. Next I released the brakes and started to take the runway when I felt a grinding sensation through the airframe. I immediately shutdown the engines to investigate and found out that something was up with my wheels. Here is what I found:
Apparently I had over adjusted the pucks on my brakes. Either they were to tight or the disc was "out of round" and the pucks dragged enough to produce heat while I was taxiing to the runway. The heated discs in turn heated up the wheel bearing which then proceded to melt my plastic wheel halves during my high power run up! Lucky for me I stopped before just taking off and finding all of this out instead of during a landing. I could bearly move the Lazair, but was able to use my dollie that I use move it sideways into my hangar. I was the opposite of fun to push it the 1/2 back to the hangar. That sucked, but I was greatfull that I had it.
I really do take my maintenance and restoration work seriously despite how all this may sound. Maybe I was just a dumb@$$, but I tell this story so that others can learn from it....hey that's what I think that this site is all about. In my defense, there was no dynamic indication that anything was wrong untill after my run up.
What next? I need to take off the main wheels. No easy task on Laziar II which means disconnecting the wings....Tyler knows what I mean. Anyway I think that the damage is only to one wheel, but I'll check both for safety's sake. I'm considering different wheels, but that means modifications to the main axle and I would prefer not to go there. I'm also put off by the original brake system and have bought some mountain bike disc brake assemblies. I've seen them put on a Falcon UL and yankeeflyer's Lazair. They look real nice, but they may be a bit of a challenge for the installation. I'll keep you all posted since the brake system on my Lazair is the same as a series III.
No flying for now, back to work......
Dave
B034 with wheels that don't turn.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.