Dive Brakes for Cessnas

[riggerrob 643]

Do any of you use dive brakes on Cessna jump planes.
If you do use dive brakes, which model?
Which shop installed your dive brakes?
How many hours of labor to install?
How much did they cost to install?
How long did they take to pay for themselves?
How much do dive brakes shave off descent times?
Did you have to add any operating restrictions to the Pilot's Operating Handbook?
etc.

I have only discussed dive brakes with two owners of Cessna jump planes. The first guy had just installed a new pattern of dive brakes/flap gap seals. In fact his Cessna 182 was used for STC testing. He was a Master Rigger from near Sacramento, California: Carl Daugherty(?).
Anyways, he said that dive brakes significantly reduced his dive times, while keeping the engine warm. He was talking about 18 minute turn-arounds to 10,000 feet!

The second dive brake owner I chatted with was less enthusiastic. He was operating a beat-up 182 out of Snohomish, Washington. He had installed Precise Flight's electric dive brakes but was unhappy with them. He claimed that the dive brakes created so much vibration that he had to re-skin his flaps. Considering the overall condition of the airplane, I suspect that his flaps were close to re-skinning long before he installed the dive brakes. Anyways, he disconnected his dive brakes after that expensive repair.
Comments?

[SPY 0]

Sorry to interrupt the normal course of the discussion, but I'm curious to know what are dive brakes.

S-P
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[diverdriver 5]

They are spoilers that can be extented to disrupt the flow of air over the wing. Create more drag and you can descend faster without increasing airspeed. You can also keep the power on the engine higher to keep it warm and avoid cooling the engine too fast.

Chris Schindler
www.diverdriver.com
ATP/D-19012
FB #4125

[SPY 0]

OK i can figure it, thanks a lot

S-P
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[SkydiveMonkey 0]

Clicky

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[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Rob,
we use gap flaps on both of our Cessna 182's here at Raeford. Feel free to PM Raefordite or TonyT about them, or just call down here and talk to Tony or Randy Mathews at (910) 904-0000.

Chuck Blue

[rgoetsch 0]

We have Precise Flight Speed Brakes on our 1969 C182.
They cost just over $4500. for parts and installation. They do make a big difference in descent rate while keeping the engine temps where they are supposed to be but we have had some minor flap skin damage as well. We don't use the plane for jumping full time- so we don't use the brakes too often.
There are two different types of Speed Brakes- one pops out above the wing -for use with electric flaps. The other type is below the wing -for manual flaps. I have heard that the manual type is hard to find these days. the other consideration is an AD... don't have all the info, but I heard that you cannot use the electric flap- above the wing type if you have wing extensions.

Hope this helps a little. It is a bit costly and possibly bad on the flaps. Unless you are running the most efficient show in town and the jumpers are waiting to pile in the plane in record time it might be better to do a little slower descent and not worry about the brakes???
just my 2 cents... :)

"If you're not on the centerline -you're out of control"

[diverdriver 5]

Quote

Hope this helps a little. It is a bit costly and possibly bad on the flaps. Unless you are running the most efficient show in town and the jumpers are waiting to pile in the plane in record time it might be better to do a little slower descent and not worry about the brakes???
just my 2 cents... :)

I agree. I used to fly a Cessna U-206 and used to carry 6 jumpers to 10K and back to load in about .4 of an hour. The plane naturally had the descent rate without trying when set up properly. Didn't see the need for speed brakes. We weren't hard up for lift capacity. Oh we did a lot of jumping but it's not always worth it to outrun your packing.

I always thought that if you were a Cessna operation but wanted a faster jump plane that a Soloy converted Turbine 206 would be a great option. You can go higher very efficiently yet you don't out run your packing so you don't have to turn the engine off as much. But that's just my dream small DZ jump plane.

Chris Schindler