New Cowling Update

[plight]

Carl .. Hopefully the 114B/115 program will be started after you sell a bunch of cowls to the older fleet.

 

[carllee]

Carl .. Hopefully the 114B/115 program will be started after you sell a bunch of cowls to the older fleet.

Do you think there's a need for it? It seems like the 114B/115 cowls are holding up pretty well. They were definitely made much better. Fiberglass technology, and technique advanced pretty rapidly in the 80's and 90's.

 

[fia]

Carl, the 115 cowling is sturdy and mechanically in pretty good shape, but very heavy. It would be nice with a lighter version to help with the CG. Aerodynamically the upper half is OK, but lower part is rubbish without attention to detail - imho.

 

[carllee]

Carl, the 115 cowling is sturdy and mechanically in pretty good shape, but very heavy. It would be nice with a lighter version to help with the CG. Aerodynamically the upper half is OK, but lower part is rubbish without attention to detail - imho.

The finish work is very bad, I have noticed, but that can be fixed with a little elbow grease. What specifically is wrong with the bottom? just finish work, or shaping?

It could easily be made 20lbs lighter, and still be 10 - 20% stronger with today's technology and materials.

 

[fia]

20 lbs lighter in the front would be lovely on the nose heavy 114TC's. The finish is good enough, but the shape is wrong and not fitting the fuselage seamless. The cowl flaps are not aligned and in shape with cowling. Every irregularity takes speed and there is 20 kts up to a Bonanza where they could have found much inspiration.

 

[plight]

Carl ... Seems to me that if (and when), the factory starts producing new birds, they're going to need a better cowl. The other issue, is the lack of a winterization kit (my old 112TCA had a factory winterization kit, which reduced the cowl flap outlet). Really important up here in the Great White North. I know that some folks strap foam around the oil cooler, but that sounds like a really bad idea (to me). Food for thought.

 

[carllee]

The best I've seen is an aluminum door, that slides in a track, controlled by a vernier, covering/uncovering the oil cooler. Very clean and simple. Something like that would be nice for our birds.

 

[proppilot]

Ours is more manual but simpler than that ! We have a thin aluminum plate with a smaller opening than the face of the oil cooler. In the late fall, take out the top two bolts on the cooler, loosen the bottom two and sandwich the plate in there. Reverse in the spring. Works a charm

 

[carllee]

Upper and lower on a 114.

 

[plight]

Tony .. sounds simple enough.

Carl ... nice looking new cowl.