In the mid-90's, the Long-EZ/pusher drivers started looking at oil flows
around all of the aero mod's they were making. New cowls with
female/NACA ducts instead of the male/"P-51" inlets, new leg fairings,
new downdraft cooling inlets, etc... all of these were tweaked using oil
flows. A few REALLY fast airplanes emerged... while the rest (i.e -
those that weren't interested in flying around with their hair on fire)
got to enjoy the improved fuel economy.
How about putting a little used engine oil to work and taking a few
digital pics? It's easier to tell what the air is doing around those
gaps and fairings and joints and inlets and such when you can SEE the
air. Sure, you'll need a few rags afterwards... but it'll be worth the
bragging rights if you end up with the cleanest streamlines around your
latest 'speed' mod. ;-)
Here's an example of a clean airplane + a little dirty oil:
http://www.standardcirrus.org/OilFlows.html
Just a thought...
D
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