HI there,
This one struck a chord with me.
Although I have a Rotax 912S and Classic cowl I had much the same
cooling problems to start with..
I agree that it did take 15 hours or so before I acheived total temp
stability at the normal levels.
I ran the engine "on and off" for two hours with both cowls off befoer
the first flight to get the temps down to manageable proportions.
During the flight testing period I experienced too much coolant cooling
and not enough oil cooling.
The oil radiator being behind the left hand radiator on mine.
I saw a Europa at a fly-in with some of the cooling vanes removed
between the water tubes in the radiator just in front of the oil cooler.
As I was experiencing too much radiator and not enough oil cooling this
seemed a great idea. I started to remove some of the vanes, very
carefully so as not to break the water tubes in the radiator. Using
trial and error I gradually increasing it until eventually about half
the area of the oil cooler was exposed directly to the airflow which was
passing between the water tubes in the radiator. Each time I increased
it the oil cooling improved. I did stagger the holes an left an inch or
so every so often so that the water tubes were still well supported.
I now have good oil cooling and still have to blank off some of the
opposite radiator on days below 15 degrees C to keep the coolant form
getting to cold in the cruise. In really cold weather, common in
Scotland, I have to blank off the lower parts of both radiators. I do
this with Velcro attached to pads at the edge of the radiator.
In the heat of the mediterranen sun (say 36 degrees C) I have no
difficulty in taxiing for an unlimited period. I set the Airmaster to
"Manual" fully coarse and 1800 rpm and it keeps it steady well within
limits. Do remember to set the Airmaster back to "Auto" and "T/O" before
taking off. I forgot this once and it wasn't a good experience.
I do however still have oil temp problems if I climb more than 4000ft at
full throttle.
I forgot to say I have cowl flaps modelled on Cessna 182 set into the
bottom cowling. During the cruise I can adjust the temps with these to
the optimum but if I leave them closed the only penalty is a reduced
height of climb without ovrheating. Cowl flaps also serve to keep things
warm on long fast controlled descents which I use all the time.
I still watch the temps as a matter of course but that is normal on an
aircraft with such a speed range as the Europa.
Safe flying to all in the new season.
Justin
Justin Kennedy
G-ZTED Europa Classic Monowheel Rotax 912S Airmaster with Warp drive
blades
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