John's Build

[jrevens]

The part number from ANPLUMBING.com is 63011710. That's a -3 size hose with a 90 deg. fitting on one end & straight on the other. The last 2 digits denote the length (10").

[jrevens]

I did similar braided stainless brake lines. (Summit). I went shorter, so I had to plumb with the bleeder on top. I like your lines better than mine...

Shorter is good... looks nice Larry.

[jrevens]

Where did you get the on and off flow switch for the heater? It looks like something Jeggs would sell. Well it's not in their catalog that I can find.

The valve is from Peterson Fluid Systems here in Denver - http://www.petersonfluidsys.com/plumb_ballvalve.html

It was really stupidly expensive (don't tell my wife).

[mr bill]

I am using the same valve in mine. Expensive, but the quality is such that I don't need to worry about hot coolant spraying about in the cockpit.

[jrevens]

Finished up my brake system completely. I was debating on how to penetrate the belly skin with the lines, and finally decided to use these little plastic model airplane fair-leads. I made some thin aluminum backing plates & epoxied the fairings to them.
IMG_1892.jpg
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I left the plastic Nylaflow lines uncovered where they go through the fairings, with enough uncovered inside so that they pull smoothly through when the landing gear flexes. I simulated the arc & amount of movement during that flexing (considerable), and they seem to extend nicely as needed.

[HighWing]

I did similar braided stainless brake lines. (Summit). I went shorter, so I had to plumb with the bleeder on top. I like your lines better than mine...

The grove gear with internal brake lines is "gun drilled". This is the reason for the threaded hole at the bottom end of the leg. My 2001 Hammerhead gear - Hammerhead vs. Grove Similar to Avid vs. Kitfox - had a hole drilled from the aft edge exactly between the mounting bolts to intercept the gun drilled channel. A plug was screwed into the bottom hole and the brake line into 1/8" NPT threads cut into the aft drilled hole. This put the exposed line exactly behind the hard structure of the gear leg and caliper. The propose was to eliminate any possibly of an object impacting and damaging the brake line when landing off pavement. Not an engineer here, but with the aft facing hole positioned between the axle mounting bolts, I can't imagine it causing stress failure of the gear. Being up and out of harms way, the line remained Nylaflow throughout. Light weight was my goal along with serviceability. I think if I was using Grove, I would drill and tap the holes that were offered as an option by Hammerhead.

[Dave S]

Lowell,

I like the cross drilling idea......when assembling our kitfox, I pondered the possibilities that could present themselves with the fitting sticking straight out the bottom......then used a 45 degree fitting pointing aft with the tubing running begind the gear leg and around the top. Also used the braided 3,000PSI hydraulic tubing with the rather expensive (In my opinion) fittings and mandrel to install them...

Makes me wonder why Grove hasn't gone to the cross drilled idea - the line and fittings would be totally out of harms way.

With the trigear.....I obsess often with checking the condition of the brake system oftem as low speed taxi is pretty much dependant on the brakes working. (I know, I know.....I expect 10,000 recommendations to make it a tailwheel)

Sincerely,

Dave s
KF7 Trigear
912ULS Warp Drive

[jrevens]

The grove gear with internal brake lines is "gun drilled". This is the reason for the threaded hole at the bottom end of the leg...

I've seen that done by others also, Lowell. In fact, Stan Specht's Mod. IV has it done. It's a fine idea. I just forgot before I installed the gear & then was too lazy at the time to remove the gear again & do it. I also wish I had radiused the front outside corner of my gear mounting blocks, but again I didn't want to take them off again. As an aside, I've also covered my Nylaflow lines with a protective sheath terminated with heat shrink at both ends. I did this not only for a little extra protection, but also to help keep the sunlight off the lines, as the nylon will slowly degrade and harden from UV. I don't worry too much about damage to the stainless braided lines - they're pretty tough, but it is a possibility of course. I'm running 8.00-6 tires, and don't expect to be landing on anything too awful rough anyway... you never know.

[N213RV]

Avery Tool sells these, it's what I'm using:
http://www.averytools.com/prodinfo.asp?number=10728

[jrevens]

Those are nice! I started to make some tooling to form something similar, but then I stopped at the hobby shop, found the plastic ones, and got lazy again. I know that the way I decided to install them is not aerodynamically the best, but it really presents very little extra drag over what the lines do anyway. I just wanted something to guide the lines into the fuselage, and the way I did it seemed to give me the smoothest entry for the movement of the lines as the gear flexed - that's based on where they had to connect at my parking brake valve.