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<<Hmmmm....... Does that include the unused fuel utilized as a part of the
"air-cooled" engine heat reduction system?>>
Absolutely not. However, a liquid-cooled engine could be designed to "take
advantage" of fuel cooling by raising the compression ratio to the point
that excess fuel must used to prevent detonation. And then there is the
coolant pump that is always included in the BSFC numbers of the
liquid-cooled engine, but the power required to force air across the
air-cooled engine is never included in its advertised numbers. But then,
neither is the power required to force air across the radiator of the
liquid-cooled engine (which is usually less than what's required for the
air-cooled version). The net result is that while the air-cooled engine may
have a slight theoretical advantage in a fully optimized cruise condition,
The actual installed overall fuel consumption difference between the two
given optimized designs is very little. Key words there are optimized,
actual, installed and overall.
Gary Casey
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