Cowl/Baffle Transition

Does anyone have pictures or can just tell me how they did the transition from the bottom cowl inlet to the baffle floors (see picture below)? Is the rubber baffle material simply riveted to the bottom side of the cowl lip? If so, how far up the sides of the inlet did you go? I don't see how to achieve a good seal here because I can't understand what keeps the air from going around the front of the baffles. Just trying to get some reassurance by seeing how others finished up this area. Thanks in advance.



(man, am I ever ready to see this thing run!!!)

Baffling Baffles!!

Hi Jeff-
Looks like your progressing nicely! While I don't have any pictures to post, you do rivet the seal material to the underside of the bottom cowl inlet lip. I let mine go up the sides about an inch, just sorta flopping loose. The two vertical side baffle pieces will have seal material riveted to them, which needs to be long enough to jam up in the curves around the bottom cowl inlet. Once it's all together, the loose sides on the bottom piece will seal against the vertical side pieces. It's a three handed job to put the bottom cowl on and get all the seal material right once your done.
Clear as mud??!!
Good Luck!
Bill Waters
N217BW RV8
Waiting for warmer weather so I can paint!

Aren't building those baffles a PIA? Just finished myself and struggled with the same question as you about how to fasten the transition baffle material. I did rivet to the under side of the bottom cowl inlet lip - and ran the material up the sides to just short of where it starts to curve horizontal along the top of the opening. Kind of hard to describe and I don't have the means to post pictures. The previous reply did a pretty good job of describing how it all fits together. I found it helpful to always be visualizing how the air would flow and how the various pieces would have to overlap to hold each other in place. Another suggestion is to make up all your baffle seals out of some stiff paper first - I used grocery sacks. I would have wasted a bunch of the good stuff if I hadn't done this.

John Miller

Baffles and air seal fabric ...

Jeff,

Here is a trick I picked up from another builder. You can see it on my web site here:

http://www.n2prise.org/rv9a077.htm

Jerry K. Thorne
East Ridge, TN
RV-9A, 0-320-D1A built by Penn Yan Aero.

Thanks

Thanks Bill, John, and Jerry for the replies. I feel better going to the hangar this weekend now that I have an idea of how everything meshes together. I really want to get these darn things done this weekend (your absolutely right John... PIA!!), so if I do I'll post the pictures here as well.

Thanks again guys.

On my RV6, I attached them to the bottom lip of the cowl inlet with 2 screws which went through the baffle material into a metal backing plate with 2 nut plates. At 900 hours they still don't need replacing but they come on and off easily.