On Wednesday, Jul 2, 2008, at 17:38 US/Pacific, Rman wrote:
> I've successfully made a mold from my current cowl, and want to make
> a new cowl. One that I can cut up and modify. My question is, what
> is the best cloth and resin to use to build the cowl? Any ideas on
> what is used in the stock Europa cowl and how many layers of cloth are
> used?
Jeff...great idea...
If memory serves, I seem to recall reading that the stock cowl is made
of FG and vinyl-ester resin; heat resistance and cure time may be the
reasons, but by all means get more info from an authoritative source. I
do know that Alex Bowman used vinyl-ester resin on his custom cowl, but
I'm not sure of the reasoning behind the decision to use it.
If you do make up a production mold, my local composite guru recommends
"molding cloth" which is a fairly heavy tight weave; for my special
wingroot fairing/fillet molds, I've used four layers of Acft Spruce P/N
7781-50...it's a bitch to wet out w/ Aeropoxy and I've had to really
work at getting out the air bubbles, but the surface is pretty smooth
when cured. Since the mold is long and has no tight radii, I've had to
add an armature of triangulated tongue depressor sticks to maintain the
exact desired shape, but hey, with no real experience behind me, I'm
learning as I go.
> I've just got this nagging idea, in my head that a well designed cowl
> will improve cooling, air speed, weight and appearance. Am I wrong?:
> :)
Though I'm not sure it's fair to say that Baby Blue needs a nose job, I
also seem to recall comments on this forum to the effect that the stock
XS cowl was designed under some time/deadline pressure and that the
results were less than optimum. IMHO...and it's just opinion...cooling
drag may be higher than need be...and the aesthetics of the radiator
inlet can be much improved. I've always admired the Suncoast/Jab
cowling on John Lawton's ship with its Mooney/Lancair-style inlets, and
I like Karel's modifications as well.
Go for it Jeff,
Fred
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