3 blade prop and lower cowl removal

[tomhanaway]

Does anyone have any suggestions or pictures of how they handled the cut on the lower cowl to deal with removal of cowl and position of 3 blade prop and front landing gear leg. .
Thanks,
Tom H.

[Randy]

This may be over kill but it sure makes removal easy. In my Subaru installation I use the large lowered exit area as a moveable cowl flap. I can remove it easily via the hinge pins.

I still need to be carefull with removal but it sure seems easier than it would have been with just a slot cut per the directions. Having a huge spinner gap doesn't hurt either

Randy C
RV7A Turbo Sube STI

[Mike S]

One idea I have toyed around with is making the nose gear leg slot longer by a few inches, toward the front, and then making up a removable filler piece that will bring the slot back to factory dimensions. This will mount with nutplates just like the filler behind the strut.

When it is time to remove the cowl, just remove the front filler, and the cowl will drop down far enough to clear the spinner----getting it by the prop should be simple then.

As I now have a removable scoop, I dropped the above idea, but it should work just dandy for anyone with the scoop still attached.

[db1yg]

Hi Tom,

Not sure if my 9a solution is applicable to your 10, but here is what I did:

I used the Fairings Etc upper intersection fairing, cut off the front just about an inch forward of where the leg fairing inserts, and added about 2.5 inches to its length, and reglassed the front back on. This allowed me to extend my cowl slot just forward enough to be able to drop the cowl down and slide it down the gear leg (tape on leading edge of leg fairing to protect it from scratching) and forward to clear the 3 blade Catto prop. I have attached a pic to show how it looked after finish. Note that the white streak is a reflection off the white wing leading edge and not a scratch.

BTW, you might notice the round "port" in the transition area of the cowl just where the side of the scoop curves outboard -- this is a removable port directly under the oil quick drain--not necessary to remove the cowl for oil change.



Hope this helps.

Cheers,

db

[bcondrey]

While doing my transition training with Alex he pointed out that he had extended the gear leg slot forward and then made an aluminum cover plate for it. He's got a 2 blade but said that it makes removal a LOT easier - a few extra screws but then the lower cowl can drop down much further.

I copied this on my plane (also a 2 blade) and like it. Same solution would work for a 3 blade.

Bob
N442PM (flying)

[vic syracuse]

I extended the nose gear slot by about 2 inches, and used a piece of .063 to make a filler plate with nutplates. It fits underneath the nose gear fairing so it doesn't show at all, but makes removal a lot easier.

Vic

[dmaib]

I extended the nose gear slot. I got info from someone on on of the forums that suggested extending the slot out to 4 and 1/2 inches from the scoop. I did this and then fabricated a cover that is fastened with the same Mil-Spec camlocs I used for the cowling. Sorry I don't have any good photo's, but I did find this one that shows the slot clearly. It works great with my MT propeller.

[Deems Davis]

I cut a similar slot as far forward as possible, and fashioned an aluminum cover attached with nutplates.

I've got a 3bld aero comp prop, and I can drop the lower cowl enough to clear the lower 2 blades and then slde the cowl forward/down and off.

Her's a link to some pics:http://deemsrv10.com/album/Sec%2047%.../DSC04249.html

use the controls on the left to click forward to 'next image' there should be about 10 pics that show different views.

[newtech]

I am still finishing up but here is a picture of my cowl. It is fairly easy to get on and off.

[tomhanaway]

thanks to all for your thoughts and comments. Looks like some combination of extending the cut and putting in a reinforcement bracket will work.
Tom H