jthocker
Well Known Member
Had an interesting situation today that may help some folks make a decision on what oil cooler to buy.
A bunch of the Cincy River Rats participated in the 24th annual Flying Knights Air Rally at Lunken Airport today. 30 airplanes participated altogether in 20 flights. The 2 flights of RV's (5 each) went last. Our flight of 5 taxied out last. Imagine if you will, a long line of airplanes on a 90 deg. day, at a towered field on a busy Saturday. By the time our flight was cleared for takeoff everyones oil temps were between 215 and 240 degrees for all in the flight. Once off twr. freq. and onto race discreet freq. there were multiple calls for lead to push it up past our normal 130 knot formation speed. Much to leads chagrin his flight became a chatterbox of oil temp comparisons.
Of particular interest would be the comparison Scott Hersha's RV8, my RV8 and Larry Wolf's RV8(formerly 5JT). All three planes are equipped and built nearly identically. The particulars are as follows:
Scott ECI O-360 A1A 9 to 1 pistons, 4164 carb., Vans oil cooler II
Jon ECI O-360 A1A 9 to 1's, 3878 carb., Stewart Warner cooler Model # 8406R
Larry ECI 0-360 A1A 8.5 to 1's 4164 carb. Positech oil cooler
At top of climb to 2500 MSL our oil temps probably were about 230 deg.'s
About 20 minutes later they had cooled alot and when they finally stabilized
a check showed Larry at 200, Scott at 190, and Jon at 180. To be fair I will say that Larry's is equipped with an oil shutter that still provides a restriction to the cooling air even when fully open. We will remove that shutter for summer flying.
The SW oil cooler costs twice as much as the Vans oil cooler II, and the positech is even cheaper.
The SW allowed the oil temps to cool faster than the others and appears to be worth about 10 degrees of additional cooling over the others.
This was a pretty good comparison because the 3 planes are baffled and cowled identically, were started, taxied and flown in formation.
Take this information for what it's worth, I think the Van's oil cooler in the kit is just fine, if I was to do it again I'd get it, instead of the SW.
A bunch of the Cincy River Rats participated in the 24th annual Flying Knights Air Rally at Lunken Airport today. 30 airplanes participated altogether in 20 flights. The 2 flights of RV's (5 each) went last. Our flight of 5 taxied out last. Imagine if you will, a long line of airplanes on a 90 deg. day, at a towered field on a busy Saturday. By the time our flight was cleared for takeoff everyones oil temps were between 215 and 240 degrees for all in the flight. Once off twr. freq. and onto race discreet freq. there were multiple calls for lead to push it up past our normal 130 knot formation speed. Much to leads chagrin his flight became a chatterbox of oil temp comparisons.
Of particular interest would be the comparison Scott Hersha's RV8, my RV8 and Larry Wolf's RV8(formerly 5JT). All three planes are equipped and built nearly identically. The particulars are as follows:
Scott ECI O-360 A1A 9 to 1 pistons, 4164 carb., Vans oil cooler II
Jon ECI O-360 A1A 9 to 1's, 3878 carb., Stewart Warner cooler Model # 8406R
Larry ECI 0-360 A1A 8.5 to 1's 4164 carb. Positech oil cooler
At top of climb to 2500 MSL our oil temps probably were about 230 deg.'s
About 20 minutes later they had cooled alot and when they finally stabilized
a check showed Larry at 200, Scott at 190, and Jon at 180. To be fair I will say that Larry's is equipped with an oil shutter that still provides a restriction to the cooling air even when fully open. We will remove that shutter for summer flying.
The SW oil cooler costs twice as much as the Vans oil cooler II, and the positech is even cheaper.
The SW allowed the oil temps to cool faster than the others and appears to be worth about 10 degrees of additional cooling over the others.
This was a pretty good comparison because the 3 planes are baffled and cowled identically, were started, taxied and flown in formation.
Take this information for what it's worth, I think the Van's oil cooler in the kit is just fine, if I was to do it again I'd get it, instead of the SW.
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