Cowling Front Corners

For those of you that are using the "stock" cowling, you should be aware that sealing the gaps at the front edge of the cowl is critical to good cooling.

Gaps between the top & bottom cowl at this location will allow high pressure air into the cowl and spoil the intended dynamics of the plenum/baffle forced air cooling system.

After I set up the hinges at the sides, I laid in 4 pieces of bid cloth along with some milled fibers to fill the gaps at the front corner radius.

Pics worth 1000 words...

Thanks for the Tip...I am getting close to doing the cowling.

I guess it might depend on how large the gap is between the top and bottom cowls at this location (I have seen some that are quite excessive), but I have done flight testing (back to back test flights in the exact same conditions) of more than one RV with this gap temporarily sealed off with tape and it has made no measurable difference.

Since it is easy to do as a retrofit, I would recommend not bothering with it until flying. Then tape over the gap and see if there is a noticeable difference.