A
couple of days ago I took off with the landing brake down. I only have the NACA
scoop, so the engine was getting very little air. By the time I was downwind the
temps were outrageous. Coolant got to 270 and oil to 260. Needless to say I
glided to a landing (on the runway) at idle. Thankfully the engine seems no
worse for the experience. Oil pressure is ok to good and static rpm is
unchanged. I flew again today (landing brake up) and temps were tolerable, but
higher than I used to have long ago, in hotter weather before the new turbo and
the rebuild.
Now the question:
Looking at my two stock 3rd gen oil
coolers after landing I noticed something strange - most of the thin
aluminum baffles between the oil channels are all bent
flat, blocking the air flow. Those that aren't bent are toward the lower
edge of the cooler where airflow might well be less. They're all bent the
same in an even pattern that would indicate to me that this was either done
by one of those crop circle guys on his day off, of the high pressure air from
the scoop hitting the coolers at an angle.
Has
anyone else seen this? I know I can "comb" the aluminum straight again, but will
it just happen again?
Should
put a baffle in the air stream to angle the air somehow?
John (baffled)