> I was wondering whether white paint would massively affect
the ability of
> the radiators to dissipate heat. My gut feeling tells me
that the bypassing
> air molecule does not mind the color of the hot metal bit
it gets heated up
> by. But then again ... there was something in science
class many years ago
> about dark body radiation.
> ....
> Please advise.
>
> <Thomas, N81EU>
>
You want black, not white. Quantum theory, Kichoff's laws,
good absorbers (black) are good radiators (shedding heat of
the hot fluid). But with tradeoff as your radiators will be
absorbs the sun's heat in a given flight condition.
But as a practical matter, you'd have to dip them in paint,
I don't think we want to do that. So anything shot on just
the front shouldn't matter. Black will disguise the fact of
radiators there viewed from a distance. White would look
odd to me on such a device. Gold might look like it was
anodized the way a popular aircraft part comes. Silver
metallic phony; we homebuilders use too much of that.
Office beige? Whorehouse lavender? :-)
Reg,
Fred F.
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