13brv3
Well Known Member
Greetings,
Does anyone fly with unfiltered intake air? I've owned a few experimental planes and have never considered such a thing before now. The RV-3B I purchased recently has horz FI with a selection for unfiltered RAM Air, or filtered air. I understand the idea is to open the RAM air on climb out, and then close it again on landing approach. Assuming you're not flying through visible dust clouds, just how bad is that for the engine? The whole idea rubs me the wrong way, but maybe it's not really a problem?
I'd be tempted to use the filtered air all the time, but it's not really made for that. The filter is located inside the cowl where it's not cool or pressurized as much as it could be, so there's a distinct loss of power.
I guess I'm trying to decide whether I should leave well enough alone, or change the system for a better, full time filtered air setup.
Thanks,
Rusty
Does anyone fly with unfiltered intake air? I've owned a few experimental planes and have never considered such a thing before now. The RV-3B I purchased recently has horz FI with a selection for unfiltered RAM Air, or filtered air. I understand the idea is to open the RAM air on climb out, and then close it again on landing approach. Assuming you're not flying through visible dust clouds, just how bad is that for the engine? The whole idea rubs me the wrong way, but maybe it's not really a problem?
I'd be tempted to use the filtered air all the time, but it's not really made for that. The filter is located inside the cowl where it's not cool or pressurized as much as it could be, so there's a distinct loss of power.
I guess I'm trying to decide whether I should leave well enough alone, or change the system for a better, full time filtered air setup.
Thanks,
Rusty