I am looking for ideas/best practices for cowling design with respect to access for preflight & maintenance.
If you have a cowling like a 172 or an RV, how often do you actually take a look under there? I quite like the convenience of something like a Bonanza cowling because it makes it so easy to look everything over on preflight. However I suspect there is a penalty to be paid in excrescence drag and cooling efficiency in large part because the hinges are unsealed. A separate plenum could address this (regardless of the style of outer cowling) but then you're not really likely to pull that off and put eyeballs on your engine very often. I'd like to make it as convenient as possible with minimal cooling drag--how might it be possible to have your cake and eat it too?
What are your favorite approaches to ready access and minimal cooling drag?
I bet this isn't coming off often...
Nice and easy, but not the best sealing...
If you have a cowling like a 172 or an RV, how often do you actually take a look under there? I quite like the convenience of something like a Bonanza cowling because it makes it so easy to look everything over on preflight. However I suspect there is a penalty to be paid in excrescence drag and cooling efficiency in large part because the hinges are unsealed. A separate plenum could address this (regardless of the style of outer cowling) but then you're not really likely to pull that off and put eyeballs on your engine very often. I'd like to make it as convenient as possible with minimal cooling drag--how might it be possible to have your cake and eat it too?
What are your favorite approaches to ready access and minimal cooling drag?
I bet this isn't coming off often...
Nice and easy, but not the best sealing...
