<<<<Our initial test flight showed lower cowl temps peaking at 400 F,
sustained temps of 375 F, with an OAT of about 35 F. It is quite likely
then that on a hot day our cowl temps are up to 450 F.
Has anyone else noticed excess heat in the lower cowl?
Any suggestions on what mods to the cowl will get rid of this heat?>>>>
Hi Terry,
Very interesting. I will keep an eye on this problem for my 912S mono XS. I
have several nylon wire ties and nylon spiral wire loom sleeves on my engine
but have not seen a problem yet. I did have some corrugated split loom
sleeve but that was polypropylene and softened rapidly and I have now
removed all that. On my cowl, I have put in the standard upper NACA carb
inlet as per the manual. On the lower starboard surface, there is the inlet
which is designed to feed the 914 engine turbo installation. I just opened
this up so that air blows into the lower engine bay. I had thought that this
may be a drag item and considered fairing it over later but will consider
that change more carefully now. What have you done with that lower inlet on
yours ?
There is one item you might consider if you have not already done so. I
installed my oil cooler in the position as shown in the manual i.e. behind
the coolant radiator and up to the top surfacer of the duct. I found during
my initial engine power runs on the ground that I was getting overheating
and on checking around other owners and with Europa head office found that
many builders have lowered the oil cooler with longer bolts and spacers to
be at the bottom of the duct so that it gets inlet air through the gap
between the radiator and cowl inner surface. This seems pretty obvious but I
just followed the book ! Since OAT's here in North Carolina are low at the
moment and cooling is much better in flight, I do not have a problem now but
intend to do that mod later. Anyway, during these discussions, a builder in
Florida with a lot of flight time mentioned that it is important to provide
additional area for air to exit the cowling since the upper shark gill
exits are inadequate. He recommended that the upper surface of the aluminum
cooling duct be cut away behind the oil cooler. This gives a greater exit
area for the hot air to depart the engine bay and is a mod I intend to carry
out.
Any comments ?
Cheers, John
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