Definition
A braking system arrangement on certain aircraft in which a single brake unit is fitted to each main landing gear wheel, as opposed to dual or multi-disc brake assemblies used on larger or higher-performance aircraft.
Plain English
One brake per main wheel, rather than several stacked together.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft brake system descriptions, landing gear maintenance, and wheel-and-brake inspection procedures.
Derivation
The term combines “single,” meaning one, with “brake,” meaning a device that slows or stops motion. In this maintenance context, “single” points to the number of brake discs used at the wheel.
Why Pilots Care
Single brake systems are simpler and lighter but provide less stopping force and heat capacity than multi-disc systems, which matters when assessing landing performance, brake wear, and overheating risk.
Analogy
It works much like a simple bicycle disc brake: one disc turns with the wheel, and pads squeeze the disc to slow it down.
Intuition Check
Do not read “single” as meaning the aircraft has only one brake total. Here it means one brake disc is used at a wheel.
Example Sentence 1
The trainer uses singlebrakes on each main wheel, so the technician inspected one disc and one caliper per side.
Example Sentence 2
Maintenance checked the singlebrakes linkage to confirm both wheels receive the same hydraulic pressure from the master cylinder.