In Defense of Marc Ingegno Brakes
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 1:38 pm
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:
Here’s how much pad is left on my originals:
And Andy’s - with what he thinks was about 300 hours:
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.
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:
Here’s how much pad is left on my originals:
And Andy’s - with what he thinks was about 300 hours:
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.
