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Baffles before Cowling?

Phil

Phil

Well Known Member
I'm into the sections of the finishing kit where the plans are little more than a guide. I'm sorting through the order of a few fwf tasks.

Is it normal to fit the baffling prior to fitting the RV-10 cowling, or should the baffling wait until the cowling and spinner are fitted?

Thanks,
Phil
 
Cowl & spinner first. You can't fit the front baffle ramps otherwise. Also trimming the baffle tops is last of course.
 
Yeah. You don't need it in the way and you have to set up your tailpipe/cowl exit clearance last. Its best to have your spinner backplate or a dummy bolted to the flywheel. Follow the plans for fitting cowling carefully and in sequence. I always start by tuning up the front and getting a good starting fit between the halves at the spinner. Fit your FAB to the cowl scoop after cowl is fitted but before exhaust. You'll need to reach into the cowl to adjust the FAB snout angle. Easier without exhaust.
 
I think I am not going to have room in my garage to mount my propeller and since I am using a 3 blade, I can't use the stock Vans back place to simulate the spinner. So I'm trying to figure out how much I can do before moving to the airport.

Any reason I can't do the baffle aluminum pieces and leave the fabric for when the cowl is fitted and then do that trimming as well as the front scoops?
 
CharlieWaffles said:
I
Any reason I can't do the baffle aluminum pieces and leave the fabric for when the cowl is fitted and then do that trimming as well as the front scoops?
Click to expand...


I am sure that it is possible, but I think I'd find it difficult - in order to trim the top of the baffles to fit under the cowl, you need to have the cowl fitted properly. If the baffles were installed, and left tall, you couldn't fit the cowl.

Of course, you can BUILD the baffles, leave them tall, remove them to fit the cowl, then put them back on to trim the tops - that would only cost you a remove/install cycle on the baffles, and if building them now gives you something to do, it wouldn't really hurt.

Paul
 
Gotcha, good point - I forgot about the trimming of the aluminum pieces. I guess I really need to see if I can fit the prop in the garage or not.
 
May be a way

I understand that the back plate will not fit your prop hub. However, on Vans website there are instructions for making proper spacers to simulate the spinner back plate distance from the crank flange. You may be able to do this for cowl fitting.

One caveat is that this assumes the 2 and 3 blade hubs are similar in the dimension from crank flange to spinner back plate mounting surface. A call to Hartzell can confirm this. Vans instructions are appropriate for the "R" model 2 blade compact hub.
 
I have the 3 Blade MT and it fits fine. If it's positioned with one blade down, the two two blades of the "Y" are well below the cabin top. So if you can fit the plane, you can fit the prop.

The MT Prop is 76 inches and the 3 blade Hartzell is 78 inches. That should about to about 1/2" taller than the MT at the end of the day.

You should be good to go.

Phil
 
I called Hartzell and unfortunately they are not the same. On the 3-blade there is no backplate. There is actually a rear bulkhead on the propeller hub itself that the spinner attaches to, so the setup is very different.
 
I am using the MT 3-blade. I temporarily mounted the prop and spinner, measured the gap from the flywheel and then mounted a circle of plywood the correct distance.
 
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