Cowl Flap on RV-6A

I see that someone sells an electric cowl flap for RV's. My question is weather (edit: I mean whether) I should invest $500 to put one in.

I have a O-320-D1A with Fixed pitch prop and I'm based in Fort Worth, TX... so pretty **** hot and a field elevation is ~860'

Thoughts?

Lots of RVs do just fine without them, but lots seem to need them too. What are your take off and climb CHTs? Without knowing that it would be hard to answer.

Been flying my -6 for over 22 years with a "hopped-up" O-320 (175 hp).
No cowl flaps and no heating problems. Literally thousands flying fine without cowling mods.
Field elevation 640' east of McKinney.

This is who sells them:

http://antisplataero.com/EZ_Cool_Flap.html

Whether you need it is something you need to determine for yourself. For me, installing them lowered my CHTs by at least 20 degrees F and made it so the temps stopped climbing at 398F on an 85 degree day. I can climb out at a lower airspeed/steeper angle (105kts stays under 400F with flaps open vs 120-130kts to keep my temps under 420-430F.) I was not comfortable seeing my CHTs climbing through 420 to 430 on a hot day when I was heavy, but I know others who are comfortable with the manufacturers' redlines. It is all up to you whether you feel comfortable with your temperatures, but the cowl flaps do work. There are many who don't go over 400F even on hot days in steep climbs. Every installation/engine/airframe is different.

The O-320-D1A is a pretty cool-running engine in my experience with it, so I'd tend to think that adding cowl flaps would be unnecessary, even here in the Texas summer heat. My RV6 with the same engine does just fine with no CHT or oil temp issues. If anything, it runs too cool in the wintertime. Run that $500 thru the fuel tanks instead

Thanks for the feedback

I'm thinking no for the time being.

I did notice in March that I was closing the vent to the oil cooler to keep the oil temperature UP.

I've had this plane for 3 months now, still learning how she likes to fly and looking around at stuff to buy

I'll have a good opportunity for shopping later this month in WI.

I bought a electric cowl flap from antisplat and I am installing it soon. I've been getting by climbing out at 120 mph but I have a 1800' grass strip and would like to climb out at best angle. It may save my bacon someday or at least save the plane that I worked so hard for. The way I see it, the cowl flap is there if you need it, and when its closed, it doesn't cost you any speed or drag.