REFLECTOR: Exhaust systems

[Dale W. Thomas]

Some fodder for a philisophical discussion...

As a disclaimer, I know absolutely nothing about the subject... but
sometimes that is an advantage because I can think 'outside the box'
without realizing it...

What I have been seeing is that it is relatively easy to clock a 2-blade
prop to coordinate with an exhaust with 2 exit ports.  I understand there
are several clocking positions that are not available with the 3-blades,
but I wonder if we might be missing something... specifically, I am
thinking of the 3-blade props and 6-cyl engines.

2 blades, 2 exhaust ports = clean prop
3 blades, 2 exhaust ports = dirty/burned prop

Could the reason (or at least part of it) be that 2 will divide evenly
into 2 while division using the numbers 2 and 3 never work no matter how
you slice it?  If someone with the technical know-how were to develop an
exhaust for the 6-cyl engine with 3 exhaust ports, could that be clocked
and located on the cowl to avoid the blades?  Even taking into
consideration the availability of only two clocking positions for the
3-blader?  After all, 3 does divide evenly into 6.

I am sure there would be considerable technical challenges to overcome,
and there is the basic physical structure and space limitations, but could
it be done?  And if it could, would it really be worth the effort?

And please, if you want to insult me for my ignorance, please do so off
the list.  My private email is dthomas@web2e.com.  But I would be
interested to hear any thoughts from those of you with expertise in the
area as to whether or not this might even be possible.

Dale Thomas