In Defense of Marc Ingegno Brakes

H. Paul Shuch is a Light Sport Repairman with Maintenance ratings for airplanes, gliders, weight shift control, and powered parachutes, as well as an independent Rotax Maintenance Technician at the Heavy Maintenance level. He holds a PhD in Air Transportation Engineering from the University of California, and serves as Director of Maintenance for AvSport of Lock Haven.

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FastEddieB
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Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:33 pm
Location: Lenoir City, TN/Mineral Bluff, GA

In Defense of Marc Ingegno Brakes

Post by FastEddieB »

I know the Marc Ingegno brakes on my Sky Arrow have a bad rap. Many upgrade their CT’s or whatever to Matcos, both for power and durability and cheaper replacement parts, especially brake pads. I also know new Sky Arrows come with Beringer brakes, which have a good reputation.

I’ll admit my brakes could be stronger, but part of that might be the finger brakes in my plane allowing for less force to be applied than toe brakes. But they suffice. And they’ve only needed one minor repair when some moisture got into one of the wheel cylinders early on and I had to polish out some light corrosion.

Anyway, I was still on my original brake pads after 13 years and 600 hours. My Inspection Checklist calls for brake pad replacement after 600 hours, so I thought I’d go ahead and replace them. Good news is a while back Andy Walker had given me the Marc Ingegno brake parts he had removed from his CT when installing Matcos including his old brake pads and they definitely had less wear than mine, so why not?
Anyway, here’s what I came up with after the fact after taking some rough measurements:

Image

Here’s how much pad is left on my originals:

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And Andy’s - with what he thinks was about 300 hours:

Image

Disregard the 20mm - I was having a brain fart and the total width of the pad plus backing plate was .2” instead.

If these last another 600 hours and 13 years I may never have to spring for the rather expensive replacement pads. I also found some riveted linings that match the shape of my pads nearly perfectly, and may experiment with those some time in the future.
Fast Eddie B.
Sky Arrow 600 E-LSA • N467SA
CFI, CFII, CFIME
[email protected]
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drseti
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Re: In Defense of Marc Ingegno Brakes

Post by drseti »

FastEddieB wrote: also found some riveted linings that match the shape of my pads nearly perfectly, and may experiment with those some time in the future.
It's an experimental, Eddie. I would expect no less of you.
The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
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FastEddieB
Posts: 2880
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:33 pm
Location: Lenoir City, TN/Mineral Bluff, GA

Re: In Defense of Marc Ingegno Brakes

Post by FastEddieB »

drseti wrote:
FastEddieB wrote: also found some riveted linings that match the shape of my pads nearly perfectly, and may experiment with those some time in the future.
It's an experimental, Eddie. I would expect no less of you.
Like I said, if these pads go 13 more years that’ll make me 84, so it may never come up. But it may.

I already bought these RAPCO items that may work.

Image

They might be a tad too thick, but that shouldn’t be too hard to deal with.
Fast Eddie B.
Sky Arrow 600 E-LSA • N467SA
CFI, CFII, CFIME
[email protected]
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