2.2.07
We decided to go with the James Cowl, but not with the cold-air engine. this is just the standard induction James cowl for the RV-10. The only thing that you have to do differently for the install is get the 14” spinner. We’ve gone with the MT 3 blade prop, so when I ordered it, I just ordered it with the 14” spinner, and that’s that. From the pictures, you can see that the cooling inlets are smaller and circular which, in tandem with the plenum which I don’t have yet, should result in a speed gain. That’s not really why I went for it, but it’s a potential bonus. I think the real reason I opted for the James cowl is that I think it looks cooler. the circular inlets get these machined aluminum rings which are pretty sweet. The cooling inlet rings were apparently on back-order, so I don’t have them yet, but I snapped a picture of the induction ring which is basically the same thing but smaller. I’m really pursuing efficient cooling. From what I understand, much of the cooling air is wasted with the standard engine baffling, and the plenum should cool better with less air. or something. whatever, it’s all debatable, and there really aren’t enough planes flying to get meaningful data about speeds and stuff. Also, I think RV-10s are built so differently from builder to builder, that there’s no way to make accurate comparisons about single parts on different airframes. I don’t need my airplane to be the fastest or most efficient - I just need to be happy with my choices and results. Anyway, the pics are basically just to illustrate the differences between the two cowls, because I have both of them. I think that the James cowl will take a bit more work to finish, because a couple more things are left to the builder. Maybe it makes the result better or something. For example, on the James cowl, you have to create the flange at the front to attach the top to the bottom. On the stock cowl, it’s already done. I don’t have any experience yet with fiberglass, so I don’t know how sucky all that work will be. We’ll see.
