After experimenting for 16 years with the cooling of my Europa XS, I found that
the best results are obtained with the installation of an effective cowl flap.
The cowl flap does two things:
1. increasing the exit area of the cowl to improve the airflow through the
radiators
for a better cooling on the ground and during full power climb in summer.
2. Reducing that exit area to limit that flow and allow high enough oil and
water
temperatures at cruise especially in winter. For that matter, I found that
a cowl flap is not effective unless it can reduce the exit area by at least 90%.
Then the last few percents make a big difference. Additionally, the closed
cowl flap accelerate the warm up of the engine and allows a very effective cabin
heating in winter.
Attached are a few pics of my cowl flap configuration. The key features are:
a. The flap controls the airflow through the radiator+oil cooler exclusively.
The
flow entering the cowl through the round inlets is not affected by the position
of the flap as it can escape on the sides and behind the flap. This allows
to keep the heat sensitive accessories (battery, ignition modules, voltage
regulator)
and fuel system cool enough even with the cowl flap fully closed.
b. When the flap is fully closed, the only way for the hot air from the
radiators
to escape is through the 1-3/4" SCAT ducting to the cockpit (when the cabin
heat flap is open) and the leaks. Therefore most of the hot air is forced to
the cockpit. That makes the heating as effective as in a car.
c. My water radiator is a specially made one with two more rows (110 mm height)
than the factory standard. This change was necessary to help solve the ground
cooling issue. The oil cooler is still the 13 row Mocal that is covered 30% all
year round and more in winter. I intend to replace it with a 7 row version
with some more cowling work to further reduce drag. No thermostat.
Remi Guerner
F-PGKL
XS mono, 912ULS
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