IBob

Yes, but now you're our resident Matco parking brake expert......)

Yep, I for one misunderstood: my park brake is just a pair of ganged ball valves (one for each line): press on the brakes and turn off the valve.

I guess there must be some good reason for the arrangement of poppet valves and lift cams in the unit you have, presumably that you can apply the brakes regardless of the valve position...

First:

You fill them from the bottom by buying a cheap small garden pump spray and attaching a neoprene pipe (which you also buy) to the nipple on the brakes themselves. This gives you, hopefully, a clean fill with no air pockets. Easy. You then stash all that gear in a poly bag for use in future services.

Second, of course the park brake isolates the brakes (from the pedals):

To apply park brake, press on pedals (so applying brakes) while turning on the park brake. Now, when you take your feet off, the pressure remains in the brakes!

They've sold thousands of Savannahs, it's a very complete kit. But visit the forums and most builders spit the dummy at some point over the manual. This seems to be the rule, more or less, with homebuilts, with the exception of the RVs, which I am told are literally line by line LEGO, though I believe they also aspire to a higher build quality and finish, so it's not quick. I've not seen one being built, but this is what I have heard, and certainly groups and schools build them: no way you could sensibly do that with the Savannah.

So, hey, you're part of a unique but not uncommon journey, that almost all home builders will identify.

I walked away from mine for some months when I stopped enjoying it and started making too many mistakes. But I picked it up again and enjoyed finishing it and am enjoying owning and flying it.

My first suggestion, if you can, is to locate knowledgeable builders of your aircraft who you can bounce questions off. I got the last NZ kit to come out of Australia, so I had access to the very experienced Oz agent. I also spent a lot of time on Mark Kyle's build thread here on this site, plus several others, and I bounced a lot of questions off Mark. I found most aviators are only too happy to help. I also learned that nobody knows everything (of course) though some know a great deal: but nevertheless while I listened to the advice and was thankful for it too, I learnt to make my own decisions. This is my first suggestion, because I have since come across builders working in isolation, and sometimes they have headed off up some very strange avenues.

My second suggestion is to get access to as many build pics for your aircraft as you can. My Oz agent supplied some, Mark Kyle and others have posted heaps, and I have now added my own online share. At the start, flicking through the pics really doesn't seem to mean much. But as you go on, they provide a wealth of detail and answer a whole lot of questions. By the time I was well into my build, I had an open manual, a separate open parts catalogue (which happened to have some exploded drawings) and an old laptop on the bench allowing viewing of build pics.

I'll leave it there for now. It's a journey, and a less than usual one, but I'm pretty sure you'll get there, and be very glad you did.

Happy days.........and blue skies.

Bob