Cowling Question

[rcarson]

I had my first flight on Oct 16th, and have had the plane up only once since due to bad weather. One thing I noticed was the 3.5" area in the top of the cowing where there is no hinge for the wire insertion seems to bow up about 1/4 " or so in flight. It tends to rise slightly as speed increases as I assume it would. Has this ever caused anyone a problem? It's just the unknown nature of it and the fact that this aircraft is much faster than my old Cherokee even without the wheel pants and gear farings on. At 70% power I was at 160mph at 2500agl and concerned about going down at an increased rate of speed due to the cowling. Let me know if anyone has had similar concerns and what if anything was done about it. Van's says its not a problem but I have heard that before. I would rather err of the side of caution and get imput from others that have the experience. Thanks.

 

[garymail]

cown buldge

Yes, there is a lot of pressure in the cowl. I reveted on a 3" piede of .040 angle, and put a camock in it. worked great, also a nutplate and a #8 screw would work just fine.

Regards,

Gary

 

[miyu1975]

Gary...sounds interesting, what did you rivet the angle to, I assume the firewall? Do you happen to have a photo.?

 

[Walt]

When I built mine I just continued the hinge all the way across the cowl and removed the eyelets as needed, this helps to reinforce the edge and prevent the cowl from lifting in that area.

 

[JonJay]

To answer your question, from my experience, I have never heard of it causing any problem. It is common to the stock cowl as per plans.

In addition to the other ideas, I have heard adding some thickness to the inside of the cowling with a few more layers of glass to reinforce that area has helped with the pillowing.

 

[gclark]

RV-6 Cowl

Flew my Six for over 10 years with this condition. No problem. Engine cooling was great so I just left it like that. Is easy to fix, but causes no concern. Congratualtions on getting your bird in the air. You will enjoy it greatly. Hope this is the worst of your problems.

 

[DanH]

Adding extra glass plies to the cowl flange helps (I added 6 plies of tape), but the best "fix" is probably a foam or wood core glassed rib about a foot long.....easy to do.

 

[rcarson]

Canopy

Thanks for all of the input. Good to know it's really not a problem. I will probably put in the cam lock and reinforce the canopy with a few more plies of fiberglass. Thank again.