Fellow coupers: I've owned an early Alon for a year-and-a-half. There's a knob on the left side below the panel which is labelled "Parking Brake - Pull ON - Push OFF." It does not perform that function, and indeed what it does do is mysterious. The two aircraft manuals I own have not filled in my knowledge gap. I examined the mechanism and believe that the actual operation should be one of:
To set - (1) Press on foot brake. (2) Pull out and hold knob. (3) Release pressure on foot brake. (4) Release pressure on knob. To release - (1) Pull out on knob [until you think the brakes are released]. (2) Push knob toward panel. Mine doesn't work at all as a parking brake. What it does do is - the brakes seem to sometimes decide to drag on their own - if the knob is worked in and out once and left in the IN position, they seem to release. The drill before takeoff or landing is to move the button OUT and IN at least once. For those of you who have examined this fine mechanism on your aircraft, there does seem to be a weak return spring on the wedge plate which sits on top of the master cylinder. QUESTION: Is this one of those mechanisms which everyone kinda chortles at and says, "none of them work real well," or can mine be rendered operational through some means which my Repair Manual does not describe? Are the return spring and the wedge plate just worn out and have I described the way it should work properly? David A-2 #035 N6359V
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