qtrmiledan
Well Known Member
Anyone with James cowlings or similar- what is the preferred distance from the air inlet rings to the plenum inlets for the flex- couplings made from the wet suit material? Thanks!!
Hi Danny,
I have a 9a with the James Cowl/plenum and the aluminum James rings. Since I finished the plane in 2006 I have had a gap of around 2 inches. The problem with this amount of gap is that the "skin diver suit material" used for the tube seal will "balloon" and stretch over time due to the effects of air pressure. I have since extended the fg plenum nozzle to within 3/4 of an inch of the aft edge of the alum rings--this provides much less exposed seal, a smoother transition from alum to seal to fg plenum, reduces the chance of "ballooning", and still provides adequate spacing for engine movement.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
db
Ahh Haaa! moment! Wonder if that is the reason for my engine temp increases over the last 18 months or so?
Mine is the original James RV-8 cowl (not his new and improved version) and there is considerable mis-allignment between the inlet and the aluminum ramp bottom of the plenum/baffle interface on the starbord side. That has always been present though.
I was wondering if the ballooning spread the wet suit material where it goes over the aft section of the aluminum inlet rings. It is just a slip fit over the rings on mine