Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: New Scoop

 

Al,
        Thank you for posting the pics of the wing with oil cooler and rad.  I am running out of space to place an oil cooler without making a draggy installation.  Did you do any type of flow testing maybe on another Velocity to determine where to put the inlet in the wing?  Did you do the installation during the build of the wing or was it done after the wing was completed?  Thanks for any help.

Joe Berki

Joe;

 

My wings were built by Alan Shaw (Wingco), so I did the entire cooler installations after the fact.  Alan did a similar oil cooler installation in the wing root of a Velocity 173 with an IO540 installation.  He put two stock aircraft coolers side-by-side in the wing and found it cooled very well.  I looked at what I could learn about the pressure and flow distribution on the wing surfaces, and did the best I could to get flow and minimum drag. 

 

There isn’t much flexibility where you locate them in the wing.  They have to be behind the spar (of course, the strake is in front), and you need as much thickness as you can get.  So you put the inlet right behind the spar, and try to get the ducting to get good air flow and keep the core relatively perpendicular to the flow.  Hollow out the foam, smooth it out with relatively dry micro and a ply of BID.

 

In both the in-cowl radiator and the wing coolers I went for natural convection cooling while on the ground, hoping to avoid the need for a fan.  I have room for a fan in the cowl radiator if needed.  I should have some info on that aspect in a few weeks when I get the engine running on the plane.

 

Al