Making my series 5 into my dream plane

[GuppyWN]

Perfect!!!

[3 tracks]

Good job Trent
Did you have high oil temps before you installed the 26 Bushwheels? The reason I asked is because I had the same problem. My plane had the 26s installed new just before I bought it. I flew it for a couple of weeks before the weather started getting hot and there was no problem. As the weather warmed up so did the oil temp. I bought the bigger oil cooler and relocated it in front of the coolant radiator. Dropped the oil temp at least 30 deg. The CHT came up a little but there is a 1 in. gap between the bottom of the coolant radiator and the cowl. I stuck weather stripping to the bottom of the coolant radiator to fill the gap. Haven't tried it out yet.
John

[trentp]

The oil temps came up with the extra power from the big bore, the tires didn't help. I spoke with John from Kitfox this morning and unfortunately there isn't an easy fix on the round cowl. I am going to try putting a second oil cooler above the gearbox which has a little more airflow so I am hoping that will fix my problem. I am wondering if blocking that air will affect my CHTs though... I will know more tomorrow.

[Esser]

Well I personally think the smooth cowl makes the kitfox look like a much better plane...and then you would need to paint your dream custom paint job....but that's just me.

Looks like you are having lots of fun with the plane. Keep the pictures coming.

[trentp]

I agree, that was one of the options I looked into, unfortunately it's not as easy as just getting a new cowl... I would need a whole new firewall forward!

[Slyfox]

looking at the front of your plane, half the oil cooler is blocked. my answer is what I did with mine. cut the opening to give full flow threw the oil cooler. I did that with mine and did wonders. just cut the cowl. smooth the edges. it will do the oil good. also get extra air in there for the heads.

[Slyfox]

I took a quick pic, sorry for being so bad. but it will give you an idea how I did mine. gets lots of air now. http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/alb...pictureid=5386

[3 tracks]

Sure looks like that would be a easier fix than adding another oil cooler , cheaper to.

[HighWing]

The oil temps came up with the extra power from the big bore, the tires didn't help....

I have a IV with a round cowl. Personally I like the looks better, but that is another story. I am attaching a picture of what I did for a not so effective heater in my first IV - for efficiency heater air needs to be recirculated. I think the first thing I would do if I was in your shoes is to make a scoop feeding a plenum that faced a second oil cooler similar to what I used, but as large as I could fit over the top of the spinner. Discussions on cooling when I was helping in a Lancair IV often talked about air velocity as it passes through the cooler. Conventional wisdom suggested that slower moving air picked up more heat than faster moving air. With that in mind, creating a scoop that fit fairly snugly to the top of the cowl opening then increased gradually in size until it fit snugly in front of an internally mounted oil cooler would be my first choice. it would require some fiberglass work but not impossible. I would use urethane foam to make the pattern from the cowl opening to the mounted oil cooler then covering that with several layers of epoxy wetted cloth. When that is cured, dig out the foam from the inside. It would take some time, but I thing it would look nice and be very efficient.

[Slyfox]

but his oil cooler is right up front under the gear box. having the cowl go half way over the cooler is like putting tape over the cooler. remove the obstruction and walla, cooler oil temps. simple fix.