From: marv@lancair.net
Subject: Re: Speedbrakes 
To: <lml@lancaironline.net>
Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2007 22:22:21 -0500
Message-ID: <web-1901407@logan.com>
In-Reply-To: <auto-000001901335@logan.com>
References: <auto-000001901335@logan.com>
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  Posted for "Bill Maddox" <reddog@bentonrea.com>:

  The last several brakes that were built were assembled by a new person  and 
I couldn't
  have figured that a problem might come from this, as John Wooley had built a
  good rep on putting them together correctly  and supposedly had passed it on 
to his
  counterparts . I'm not the builder of the brakes and I didn't like the 
design
  that John Wooley came up with for several reasons. I didn't own the rights 
 to
  them, I just sold them for Wolstenholme after the deal I had with my 
original brakes
  had fallen apart. Those  earlier brakes were the subject of a court case 
that resulted from
the partner I had wanting to sell the design to a third party without my 
knowledge. I
  won the case but spent 30K to defend my position in court.  That pretty much 
ended
the original Aero Options speedbrakes that I manufactured and rersulted in the 
new
arrangement with Wolstenholme to sell their brakes for them.
  
  The new brakes in question could have several problems if they don't work...
  
  1 the voltage is incorrect   , ie, ordered a 24 v unit and got a 12  v unit
  
  2 the wiring is incorrect  and that includes the issues with the pilot
  trying to put the small switches on the control stick. The brakes were
  designed with  a heavy duty dpdt switch only
  
  3 the lube in the brakes might have gotten in  the clutch.   I understand 
the
  brakes in question were in a closet for over a year.
  
  4 Wolstenholme had new people build the last several brakes... that might
have resulted in problems with either the spring, the power, assembly issues
or some combination thereof.

The only problems we ever had with this new brake was with the clutch and its 
wear-in
  period (provided all the wiring issues and install was correct). The clutch 
needed a
  break-in according to John Wooley  at Wolstenholme. He said he did this 
break-in
  on every unit shipped and that the brakes worked before they left the 
factory.
  
   If  you had a problem with your brakes I always asked the owner of the
  brakes to contact Wolstenholme for answers and a possible fix if needed . I
  just sold them and didn't own the rights to them. I had a design and they
  turned it down for one of their own.    At that point I gave up trying to
  build a better brake and simply acted as a marketing arm for Wolstenholme's
brake.  Lancair was bought by Joe B and the brake opening got
  smaller, the Wolstenholme brake wouldn't fit in the planes and fewer
  brakes were being sold until Bob informed me he was not going to run more
  parts.  I could certainly understand his issues. I hadn't sold brakes since 
the
  summer of last year for Wolstenholme.     I have turned down 5 or 6  orders
  since then and told them I was not selling anything from the site at this 
time.
  Basically, I closed the internet shop last year
  
  The problem with the brakes were mostly people problems / wiring  and
  installation issues .The builder of the plane lost the paper work that had 
the wire
  diagrams and warrantee.  I had faxed and e-mailed on several occasions info
  sheets to builders and avionics personnel to put them in the planes after a
  period of time sitting around in a shelf .
  
  Colyn C... I'm sure Bob and the people at Wolstenholme will fix your problem
  for they are good at what they do.

Bill Maddox