Friday 4 November 2011

4th November 2011 - Lower cowl nearly complete

It has been slow progress over the last few days. The weather has been poor so I haven't been able to get the fuselage outside and I'm spending time waiting for resin to cure. Finally though the airscoop is fully bonded to the cowl and the air intake created and lined up with the airbox. The process for creating the air intake is to cut the hole in the airscoop to match the intake to the airbox then shape and insert a foam plug that projects into the airscoop. Glass cloth is then laid up around this plug to create a tube on the inside of the airscoop that matches the airbox. The airbox will then have a rubber seal riveted around the intake that fits over the tube in the airscoop that has been fabricated. This ensures that outside air is rammed into the airbox by the propeller and speed of the aircraft increasing the effective air pressure at the carburettor and therefore the engine power. I just need to wrap one final layer of glass round the lips of the air intake to protect them and final fill and sand then the lower cowl will be finally ready for priming.
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