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Fluid Cooling Experiment
David wrote:
I am reading a book by Richard Finch on auto conversions. In his article
on radiators and cooling, he says that a belly scoop like a P-51 is the
best way to go. No other formulae or graphs or charts.
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I contacted Tim England in Canada on this question. Over a year ago he
installed a Chevy V-6 in his Velocity 173. He designed a successful belly
scoop and should be consulted. Although it works, I've heard from a fellow
Velocity builder, who took a ride in this plane last summer, that Jim's
P-51 scoop extracts a significant drag penalty, and also blocks air to the
prop.
I've got a 4.5 liter Chevy V-6 - all aluminum block and heads. (Dry weight
345 lbs). Determined to reduce drag and increase efficiency, I'm following
Alan's experiment (Dynamic Wing) by installing twin coolers in the wing
roots of my 173. Alan has had success with twin oil coolers (17" side by
side) installed in one wing of a 173. As he posted on the reflector
recently, his design includes a 1" inlet slot on the low pressure side
(bottom) of the wing, and 1.5" slot for exhausting hot air on the top.
My all aluminum radiators were designed and crafted by a racing shop in
Ontario California, FLUIDYNE. Each is 18" long and slips into a cavity in
the root of each wing.
Why Chevy? I wanted plenty of extra horses on a 100 degree day up here in
the Rockies. Slated for completion in August, this is not your grandpa's
Chevrolet. Estimated output: According to Crower's racing cam and crank
shop dyno test, energy should be well in excess of 300 HP.
As far as I know, I'm the only one experimenting with twin radiators in the
wing roots, so there's no proof it will work. However, I'm banking on
Alan's success with the same size setup for oil coolers, and he says
cooling is exceptional. (On Alan's advice, I'm also installing a small
cooling fan inside one of my wing roots). And, like Martin says, if it
won't taxi successfully on a hot day, I'll restrict my flying to January.
Dennis Martin
173 FG Elite