Frank,

Goodyear brakes with good brake pads should hold during a full-power runup -
mine did.  I've been told the Goodyear brakes should be able to skid the
tires though I couldn't, using my brake handle (rudder pedal kit
adaptation).  

[Side note:  be absolutely sure there's no gravel under your prop during any
stationary, full power runup - even gravel underneath the grass.  Ed, who
found out the hard way.)

You should be able to get new brake pads and get WAY better brake hold than
you have now.

My pet peeve with Goodyear brakes concerns the clips that hold the disk in
position.  Occasionally, one of those spring clips will fail.  Most of the
time, I've been told, the brake disk comes loose and gets crooked, jamming
and locking the wheel.

When my Goodyear clip failed before mid-field, it sprung some other clips
and the disk just floated freely.  As both brakes use the same master
cylinder, I lost braking on both sides and was coasting down the smooth,
cement runway at about 35-40 mph, not losing any speed.  I was still going
20-25 mph at the far end, heading for the fence.  I tried doing a J turn to
stay away from the fence.

The J turn was successful, leaving me going back up the field, in the weeds,
beside the runway.  Fortunately, the shallow drainage ditch was smooth at
the bottom and the nose gear managed to roll both into and back out of it
without collapsing.

In the end, it was a fairly low cost repair, once we found a mechanic who
understood those $...@%# clips and had a stash of them.

It might prevent failures if you replace 60+ year old clips with brand new
ones.  I don't know.

Summary:  You should be able to repair your Goodyear brakes and get very
good effectiveness out of them for days or years to come till the $#%@ clips
fail - if they ever fail. Your choice.

Ed


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