<<Also, the 'gills' on the sides of the upper cowl seem to be counter
productive for cooling>>
Now your talking! I reckon these gills throw out a plume of air that (at
least locally) destroys the airflow down the side of the fus., creating
significant drag.
Has anyone blocked these off to see what speed advantage is gained?
Downside would be overheating/short life of alternator regulator, but
cooling for this could be separately provided for.
Duncan McF.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry Seaver (terrys)" <terrys@cisco.com>
Subject: RE: Europa-List: Hey Guys...Speaking of drag...
> <terrys@cisco.com>
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> I have long believed that moving the chin back to just in front of the
> radiators could help improve cooling on the ground, placing the opening
> behind a more outboard section of the prop (more prop wash) and reducing
> drag in the duct. Any gain in speed would just be icing on the cake for
> me. In comparison to other aircraft of much greater horsepower, the
> lower duct inlet seems much larger than needed for only 100 HP. An
> efficient duct should be able to get by with a smaller duct, with less
> drag.
>
> Also, the 'gills' on the sides of the upper cowl seem to be counter
> productive for cooling (based on our instrumented mods). Closing them
> up should also reduce drag.
>
> Any pictures of Charles Staines modified cowl? Has he commented on any
> changes to ground cooling?
>
> Regards,
> Terry Seaver
> A135
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
> [mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of
> Dave_Miller@avivacanada.com
> To: europa-list@matronics.com
> Subject: RE: Europa-List: Hey Guys...Speaking of drag...
>
>
> Terry,
>
> Chris Staines re-worked his 914 mono cowl last winter.
> Moved the "chin" back to just in front of the radiator and cut down the
> size a bit. Also cleaned up the outflow area at the rear of the cowl.
> As the cowling is now closer to the muffler and exhaust pipes he had to
> add some reflective heat shield material to the inside of the cowl.
> Looks neat, sort of Mustang like and seems to have improved cooling.
> As to speed, Chris thinks he has picked up 1 or 2 knots, really hard to
> measure as so many things come into play.
> It is a lot of work for a small gain.
>
> Dave
>
>
>
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