Out of my 3,000 hours of canard time, maybe 5 of it was with the older short rudders. I'll be honest with you, I really didn't notice any difference, I wasn't specifically evaluating the short vs long rudders, these were first flights.
I think if the rudders/brakes are adjusted properly, you won't notice any differences at the slower speeds. I found the "feel" transition from rudder to brake and vice versa seemed identical to the long rudders. (Again, I wasn't specifically looking at this, but I didn't notice anything unusual)
Brakes seem to be the number one maintenance issue on my LongEZ, I have the original light duty Clevelands. I go through a set of pads every 150 - 250 hours. I also found that I need to replace the "o" ring in the caliper every 2nd or third set of pads. I think caliper heat and high braking pressure prematurly flattens out the O-ring.
I also find that about every 1200 - 1500 hours, I need to replace the disk, It starts to develope a slight curvature (like concave) and doesn't allow the pads to wear evenly.
As for the "soft brakes"
If the brakes are not properly heat treated, they will fade out very quickly. You'll be lucky if they can disipate enough energy to stop you even at a moderate taki speed.
Make sure the brake pads have been properly broken in i.e. heat treated. I usually start at slow speed taxi and drag the brakes until I can start to feel them fading, I continue taxi with no application of the brakes to allow then to cool.
I then move to the runway and increase the speed to about 30 - 40 kts, From the start to the end, I can get two or three very aggressive full stops on the entire length of the runway. I taxi back to allow the brakes to cool.
One more high speed taxi down the runway at about 60 kts and two or three full aggressive stops usually finishes the job.
The brakes should now be fully heat treated and you'll find they are very firm, and you should be able to lock up the tires.
Waiter
