Hi All,
My RV 8 has a James Cowl and a forward facing AFP injection system. With the James cowl came a fiberglass induction system into which you are supposed to place a KN filter. The alternate air arrangement goes on the side. The problem is, the alternate air is forward of the filter. Hence, if a pigeon flies into the air intake and plugs it, then you hit alternate air and everything is fine. If your filter ices or gets clogged or occluded with a piece of plastic, the alternate air is of no use what ever.
That did not make any sense to me at all. For that reason, I bought a Rod Bower Ram Air unit that fits on the front of the AFP and connects to the front scoop. that is a seemingly elegant solution to the issue from a mechanical point of view. With the Bower unit, you take off with the ram closed, using filtered air from the inside of the cowl. On some level, this is like taking off with the carb heat on. I know that our planes are somewhat overpowered and this probably won't really matter, but it still seems somewhat sub-optimal.
Has anyone come up with a better solution for getting filtered air to the engine with a functional alternate air? I am thinking about trying to fabricate something out fiberglass that will move the filter forward and place the alternate air behind the filter. The area is cramped, only 9 1/4 inches from the back of the scoop to the AFP throat. Also not a lot of room side to side. Could be an exercise in futility. Thoughts?
Regards,
Michael Wynn
RV 8 Finishing
San Ramon, CA
My RV 8 has a James Cowl and a forward facing AFP injection system. With the James cowl came a fiberglass induction system into which you are supposed to place a KN filter. The alternate air arrangement goes on the side. The problem is, the alternate air is forward of the filter. Hence, if a pigeon flies into the air intake and plugs it, then you hit alternate air and everything is fine. If your filter ices or gets clogged or occluded with a piece of plastic, the alternate air is of no use what ever.
That did not make any sense to me at all. For that reason, I bought a Rod Bower Ram Air unit that fits on the front of the AFP and connects to the front scoop. that is a seemingly elegant solution to the issue from a mechanical point of view. With the Bower unit, you take off with the ram closed, using filtered air from the inside of the cowl. On some level, this is like taking off with the carb heat on. I know that our planes are somewhat overpowered and this probably won't really matter, but it still seems somewhat sub-optimal.
Has anyone come up with a better solution for getting filtered air to the engine with a functional alternate air? I am thinking about trying to fabricate something out fiberglass that will move the filter forward and place the alternate air behind the filter. The area is cramped, only 9 1/4 inches from the back of the scoop to the AFP throat. Also not a lot of room side to side. Could be an exercise in futility. Thoughts?
Regards,
Michael Wynn
RV 8 Finishing
San Ramon, CA