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Re: Europa-List: Jab cooling

Subject: Re: Europa-List: Jab cooling
From: Duncan & Ami McFadyean <ami@mcfadyean.freeserve.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 21:42:00
John,
You could also try:
"An investigation of the aerodynamics and cooling of horizontally 
opposed engine installation" 
SJ Miley. SAE 1977.
Which contains velocity ratio investigations for a number of different 
nostril shapes, including 'LoPresti' style.

Duncan Mcf.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: TELEDYNMCS@aol.com 
  To: europa-list@matronics.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 5:16 PM
  Subject: Europa-List: Jab cooling


  In a message dated 10/3/2007 3:00:41 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
europa-list@matronics.com writes:
    I recall that in 1995 I asked the late Richard Cabrinha why he had 
changed
    from a chin intake to a pair of Lo-Presti style circular intakes on 
his Free
    Spirit Mark II, for cooling a Continental IO 360, and he replied 
"because
    they work!"  He told me that if the diameter were too large then 
there would
    be a reverse flow, spilling air out round the circumference of each 
intake.
    He refined the size by putting some oil around each rim and doing a 
quick
    circuit: inspection on landing showed whether the oil film had 
spread
    inwards or migrated outwards, and he would then the repeat the test 
with
    different diameters accordingly.


  Hi Mike, Graham, and all,

  That is essentially what I've done with my string testing, although I 
wasn't aware that size had much to do with it (Typical male, huh?) I've 
not played with changing the size of the intake at all. It does seem 
like 25 square inches of intake should be more than adequate for cooling 
this little engine, though.
  . 
  What I've seen in my string tests is an apparent low pressure area 
forming on the outboard side of the left intake as viewed from the 
cockpit. I've also noticed an apparent high pressure area directly in 
front of the inlet when my turbulators are not installed and this high 
pressure "bubble" rejects the string as it approaches the intake from 
upwind.  At one point it turns the string 180 degrees and it blows 
towards the fan. Installing turbulators at the lip of the intake helped 
considerably. I went from about 50% of the intake "accepting" the 
string, to what I'd estimate as about 80% now accepting the string in 
the intake. Still not perfect, but I'm still playing with it, too. What 
I have seen in terms of engine cooling has been dramatic, though.

  I need to dig up the Lo-Presti info and take a look at it. That's 
about the fifth time somebody has mentioned that name to me.

  An A&P friend of mine stopped by my shop yesterday and I showed him 
what I was doing. He's also a glider pilot and amateur aerodynamicist. 
We also discussed exit cooling flow. The trigear has a rather large 
triangle shaped reinforcing piece on the nosegear leg just below and 
outside the line of the cowl. This triangle is flat to the relative 
wind, probably worse at climb angles, and I would reckon that it causes 
some disturbance right where the cooling air from the cowl is trying to 
exit. Whether or not that is interfering with my cooling flow remains to 
be determined, but it sure looks like it could use a fairing to split 
the flow, hopefully accelerating it and causing a low pressure area in 
that region. It stands to reason that cleaning up this area with a 
fairing might help create a bit of suction and aid cooling flow, too.

  Graham said: I wonder if your turbulator is helping keep the flow 
attached over the 
  whole of the outside of the cowl?

  I'm thinking you are correct in your assessment there, Graham. I think 
"re-exciting" the flow is indeed causing it to stay attached. FWIW, I've 
done some tuft testing on my wings and I seem to have laminar flow at 
least as far back as the hinge line of the aileron. The wing tip is much 
cleaner than I anticipated, too. There are very few modern sailplanes 
that get this level of laminar flow that far back on the wing. Shaw and 
Dykins are obviously genius'.

  I don't have enough knowledge on the subject to really know one way or 
the other how internal duct pressure is related to flow, but my tests 
seem to indicate that there is either no relationship, or the 
relationship is inverse. If you think about it, restricting the flow 
would cause higher pressure, just as it does when you put your finger on 
the end of a running garden hose. The pressure increases, but the flow 
decreases. That seems to be what is happening here.

  Regards,

  John Lawton
  Whitwell, TN (TN89)
  N245E - Flying


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