Great work Jim.  

Glad to hear you're getting some air time.  I have to echo Buly and Ed
though.  Get some stainless around that exhaust.  

I think I used 0.020 to make a plate between the exhaust and intake.  I
then covered that with some high temp insulation sheets I found at the
speed shop.

Bob W.

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 14:32:21 -0800 (PST)
James Maher <deltaflyer@prodigy.net> wrote:

> Yesterday I finally got around to the post 1st flight inspection on my Delta.
>   Checked all the controls, skins, airframe stuff and then removed the top cowl.
>   Everything looked great until I got to the muffler.
>   The muffler was fine but the heat shield between it and the intake manifold was MELTED!
>   About a 4" x 4" hole directly above the center of the muffler with gobs of aluminum slag in the bottom of the cowl.
>   I believe that the heat shield got hot enough to droop and then contacted the muffler surface and was history after that.
>   It's a good thing that the plenum (also aluminum) did not melt and get sucked into the intake.
>   That would have ruined my day.
>   I fabricated another piece of alum and wrapped it up around the plenum this time to prevent it from contacting the muffler.
>   This is a temporary solution at best.
>   I have an idea for a more permanent one but did not have the material on hand at the time.
>   With temporary fix completed I proceeded to fly the second test flight.
>   The OAT was 60F, 10F degrees higher than the first flight and the engine acted accordingly.
>   The coolant was up to 212F and stable by the end of the runup.
>   Luckily the oil was only about 170F so I proceeded to takeoff.
>   Climbing out at 110-120MPH the coolant temp was 212F with the oil coming up.
>   After level off at 3000 feet the coolant eventually came back down to a more comfortable 190F with the oil about the same.
>   My eyes were almost glued to the EGT though, because I was concerned about another meltdown. The highest EGT that I noticed was about 1580F.
>   I kept the mixture a little richer than last time hoping to keep the temps down.
>   After circling the airport for over a half hour I decided I better land, as the I was loosing the sun again.
>   I turned base and final too short, so I was high and fast (flying the pattern at 120MPH takes a little getting used to),
>   But I did have 9000 feet of runway below me so I managed to get it down but not in the first 3000 feet like last time.
>   It was more like the second 3000 feet.
>   Any other airport it would have called for a go around.
>   But it wasn't a bad landing and I didn't break anything.
>   Didn't have time or light to look under the cowl after this flight as it was already well after 4:00PM ( I hate standard time).
>   Can't wait to get the airplane back to it's home airport.
>   An hour and a half is just too far to drive.
>   Jim Maher
>   Dyke Delta N11XD 13b (2.1 hours flown)
>    
>


--
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