In my Reading this morning I came across a hidden gem. It is in Tony
Bingelis' book "The Sportplane builder" on page 94 (Cowlings chapter).
On that page there is a picture of an airplane (possibly a Soneri) with
the following caption:
"The NASA duct just under the spinner feeds air under the VW
crankcase for cooling purposes. ESSENTIAL TO VW ENGINES" (caps are mine).
I have been asking folks about this very same thing for quite some time.
As an electronic technician, a thorough knowledge of component cooling
is essential. When I first saw the cooling fins on the bottom of the VW
engine, and realized that in a VW Bug the cooling fins stuck out into
the airflow, I concluded that in my plane I should have dedicated oil
pan cooling which comes FROM the cool air inlet, through dedicated
tubes, to a sealed baffle around the oil pan fins, and out a dedicated
tube from the bottom of the cowling. This dedicated air flow will keep
the oil pan cool without reducing the low pressure required in the lower
cowling for the cylinder and head cooling air flow. I'm not one for
making something more complex than it needs to be, but in my field, this
would be considered common sense.
Agree or disagree with my point, we should all come away from this
with one fact clear: If you DONT have Tony Bingelis' books in your
library , you are missing one of the most important tools in your toolkit.
--
Glenn Martin
KR2 N1333A, "Guardian angel"
13238 Hudson-Krohn Rd.
Biloxi, MS, 39532
rep...@martekmississippi.com
