Amateur/Home Built/Experimental
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25; Flight Crew Total 2000; Flight Crew Type 1500
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control; Ground Excursion Runway
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
After landing with a 10-15 knot turbulent crosswind; I was rolling out on the runway which slopes downhill in that direction; when I discovered I had no right brake action at all; despite trying hard and often. The canard pusher aircraft steers with brakes. So; once my speed dropped below the aerodynamic effectiveness of the rudders; it slowly weathervane into the wind and went off the runway onto a rough; sandy surface. After rolling about fifty feet; the nose gear collapsed; stopping the aircraft. I was not injured; and no fire occurred in the dry brush. Post incident I found the cause of the brake failure was a total loss of brake fluid through a cracked; but still intact; copper brake line. The incident could have been prevented with better design. The broken part; a three inch section of copper tubing; had been in service for over fifteen years; but a flexible aircraft standard hose should have been used in this application. Second; I had noticed a peculiar brake response on taxi out that day; but on repeatedly testing the brake; could not repeat it; and mistakenly concluded it was functioning normally. In hindsight; the peculiar response was probably the result of brake action with a leaky brake line! I should have taxied back; removed wheel fairings; and investigated further. The wet brake was not apparent with the wheel fairings on; but would have been obvious with their removal.
Long EZ right brake failure during landing roll out in a strong crosswind. As speed decreased and the rudder became ineffective the aircraft departed the runway causing nose gear collapse. A cracked brake line was found to be the culprit during post flight inspection.