Alan Cockrell
Member
I recently bought an RV-6 from the widow of a deceased owner who was not the builder. I could not locate the builder for questions and the widow knew nothing, so what I saw is what I got.
The plane is in beautiful shape and I've been very pleased with it, but I have discovered a feature about it that seems to be an anomaly. The source for the cockpit air vents is not the usual side fuselage intakes but rather the top of the engine compartment over the no. 3 cylinder. I scratched my head trying to figure it out. The air there is clean and supposedly cool because it turns downward from there into the cylinder fins, but two things worry me. It would seem to rob cooling air, and an engine fire might get fed straight to the cockpit. The engine runs cool, so I'm not worried about that one. A fire should get forced to the bottom, but maybe it doesn't.
Anyway, I guess that all was done to improve drag, but I am very curious to know if any other RVs are built that way.
The plane is in beautiful shape and I've been very pleased with it, but I have discovered a feature about it that seems to be an anomaly. The source for the cockpit air vents is not the usual side fuselage intakes but rather the top of the engine compartment over the no. 3 cylinder. I scratched my head trying to figure it out. The air there is clean and supposedly cool because it turns downward from there into the cylinder fins, but two things worry me. It would seem to rob cooling air, and an engine fire might get fed straight to the cockpit. The engine runs cool, so I'm not worried about that one. A fire should get forced to the bottom, but maybe it doesn't.
Anyway, I guess that all was done to improve drag, but I am very curious to know if any other RVs are built that way.