Hi all,
Dave's mod seems like something that I have been thinking of doing. Do you
happen to know if he reduced the size of the air inlet or was it left the
same. I seem to recall that Duncan reduced his by about a third with no ill
effect on cooling, so it would seem that there is a bit of opportunity to
reduce drag in this area. The other opportunity is where the exhaust exits
on the 914. That was an after thought if I ever saw one. I think I could
move the bend closer to the muffler, add a fairing onto the cowl and maybe
even some exhaust augmentation like the canard guys do.
I can't help but think that by moving the inlet back, reducing the frontal
area, creating an expansion area before the radiator and a compression to re
accelate the air after the radiators, along with some improvements in how
the exhaust works that I must be able to pick up 4 or 5 knots..... but you
never know, this type of thing is generally pretty fickle.
By the way, when I cut my gills out I accidentally cut the wrong side, so
they don't really provide a means of outflow, in actual fact air might even
flow in!! Any how I didn't realize my mistake until Andy pointed it out to
me about a year latter. I suspect things run cooler under my cowl because I
don't see things like melted cable ties that Terry did.
Paul
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