|
|
Bill: You didn't say where you live and/or fly out of but I am thinking a
5-vane oil cooler is much too small. Perhaps you should ask Lance and
company about this. My 7-vane is just right for cruise (about 180
degrees)
but oil still heats up on hot summer days climbing out too rapidly. My
guess is that most builders in the south use 9-vane coolers with naca
scoops
on their 360 engines. It is certainly easier to restrict air-cooling in a
plane that has too much cooler than it is to suffer the consequences of
overheated engine. Greg Nelson
Hello Greg,
N5ZQ spends much of it's time in Fredericksburg, Virginia. We have another
house on a runway in Florida so it spends a LOT of time in hot climates. If
you make the ducting efficient, you can get by with the small cooler.
Originally, I tried to fit in a large cooler but just didn't have the room
in my installation, so...I concentrated on making the air flow as efficient
as possible. It seems to have worked. It's flown 575 hours so far with cool
oil temps. That includes several hours flown south of the Tropic of Cancer
as well as a few north of the Arctic Circle.
With a larger (heavier) cooler, you could get away with a less efficient air
flow system. Most of us are building Lancairs because we LIKE to be
efficient. Yes, I agree that it's always easy to decrease efficiency.
Bill
harrelson@erols.com
N5ZQ LNC2 O-320 VA42 Fredericksburg, VA
|
|