alpinelakespilot2000
Well Known Member
I have my cowl all fitting pretty well. The top cowl may actually fit too well. Once drilled to the firewall, I ended up with a strong 1/8" (somewhere between 4/32" and 5/32") gap between spinner and cowl at the top and probably 1/4" at the bottom. Between a little bit of future sag, and a little bit of filler on the bottom half, I'm assuming this will eventually even out to something around 3/16" all around. However, if I end up with no sag, is 1/8" between cowl and spinner really enough over the long term? Van's says anything 1/8" to 1/4" is OK, but I'm just checking for confirmation from those with experience that being on the smaller side of that range will work out. Definitely don't want the spinner ever catching on the cowl on startup or any other time the engine might shake a little.
Side note: From the archives, I see that many nosewheel folks and those with 3-blade props prefer larger gaps (1/4" to 3/8") for ease in removing and installing cowl. However, I have no nosewheel and only a 2-blade prop, so I'm pretty happy with the smaller gap assuming it's conservative enough already.
Thanks for any tips.
Side note: From the archives, I see that many nosewheel folks and those with 3-blade props prefer larger gaps (1/4" to 3/8") for ease in removing and installing cowl. However, I have no nosewheel and only a 2-blade prop, so I'm pretty happy with the smaller gap assuming it's conservative enough already.
Thanks for any tips.