I'm installing dual brakes, so I have to make four pedals. I'll do it assembly-line fashion to speed things up.

But first, I took one of them to completion to make sure I knew what I was doing.

This was the first cotter pin I encountered, so after looking it up in the Standard Aircraft Handbook, I asked an A&P buddy if I had done it right.

Why red? Well, first, it looks cool. Second, if my passenger inadvertently stomps on a brake pedal, it can cost me an engine overhaul.

I remember sitting in a little airplane's cockpit when I started taking lessons. The pedals felt like they were at the bottom of a deep black hole. It wasn't clear how the rudder pedals related to the brake pedals. I wasn't too sure what was going on down there until I got out and stuck my head down under the panel.

My passengers will know right away that the white things are separate from the red things, and I can tell them "See those red things? Don't step on them."