My flying buddy has been having sticky brake problems with his model IV speedster. They began to drag a little and slowly got worse until one day they began to chatter on landings. He landed on a gravel strip and the brakes grabbed and did not release, almost causing a wreck.

We took them apart, inspected, cleaned and replaced, but they were still very slow to release. Checking with Matco, we were told the brake cylinder rods need to be fully extended in order for the brakes to release. We decided to adjust the brake cylinder rods behind eah peddle. We were working the brakes by hand and were convinced the cylinders were fully extended, but still they would not release all the way. We were consentrating on the brake cylinders attached to the left seat brakes and decided to check the right seat brake cylinders, too. When we worked that set several times the brakes all of a sudden released correctly. He took his plane out for a test flight and the brakes worked great again.

Lesson learned: If you have brakes for both left and right seat, use both sets occasionally to keep all brake cylinders working correctly. If left to themselves for too long unused, a set of brake cylinders can lock up your brakes. A potentially dangerous scenario.