Angier,

 

Is that your oil cooler shark-gill outlet there on the left side?  If so, is your pilot side NACA duct cockpit vent air inlet about 2 feet back and a foot higher?  If so, as you think of the helical coil shaped air stream flowing around the fuselage, will it carry the hot air from the oil cooler into the vent inlet?

 

Your Al tape as a heat shield is great.  Will oil drips from the engine cause a corner to start to lift into the rip-roaring stream of hot exit air, thus making it a bit raggedy after a while?

 

Have you considered the same shield above cylinders 1 and 2 (assume lyc 4 cyl engine) so that it protects the paint on the cowl from cracking in that area after a few years (heat after shut down into an area under hi flex during flight).  Forgetaboutit if you use a cooling plenum for the engine.

 

I had some aluminum tape kicking around so I said to self, "what the heck, lets add to

N4ZQ gross weight and move CG forward at the same time." :-)

Was this a useless exercise or will there be some benefit as a heat shield?

The sole objective was to help preserve the exterior paint surface.

Angier Ames

N4ZQ

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