Hello Graham. I just hate it when facts get in the way of a good story
;-) Thanks for the correction.
Nigel
On 11/05/2011 11:06, GRAHAM SINGLETON wrote:
> Morning Nigel. You are mostly right, but the first ones were
> stainless. Then one cracked on a factory aircraft (after take off at
> Sywell I remember). Shortly after that the
> first exhaust manufacturer changed to mild steel without telling
> anyone. Next problem was because of the very high EGT the mild steel
> burned through and another rash of failures developed.Eventually their
> insurers got expensive and nervous about anything to do with aircraft.
> They stopped supplying exhausts and a new manufacturer had to be found
> in a hurry. Not easy!
> imho the problem with the early stainless ones was that the stainless
> steel was too thick, excess weight, vibration loads and result,
> cracks. Some of we early builders supported the heavy aft end of the
> box and had no problems.
> Titanium would certainly fix it but the price might make one's eyes water.
> Graham
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Nigel Graham <nigel_graham@m-tecque.co.uk>
> *To:* europa-list@matronics.com
> *Sent:* Wednesday, 11 May, 2011 9:18:59
> *Subject:* Re: Europa-List: Carb, fuel and oil tube heat shielding
>
> Back in the mid '90s, early adopters experimented with heat wrap and
> claimed reduced noise and marginal performance improvements
> (subjective). This was followed by a rash of exhaust pipe fractures
> that were attributed to the heat wrap and everybody dropped it like a,
> well, hot exhaust.
> It was subsequently discovered that the first batch of (classic)
> exhausts had been made out of mild steel and not the stainless steel
> specified, so it is possible that this could have been a contributing
> factor.
>
> I have a motorcycle fitted with a titanium exhaust. It is so thin
> that at night I can see the road ahead by the cosy red glow. This
> system is incredibly light and ridiculously resilient and I wonder if
> it would be a suitable material for a bespoke Europa system - combined
> with heat wrap?
>
> Nigel
>
|