With the discussion on speed and heat drag I thought I'd remind folks of the
Macchi-Castoldi MC-72.  This piston powered airplane established a new speed
record on October 23, 1934 of 440.5 mph after two previous attempts killed
the pilots.  The plane had two engines in line with counter-rotating props.
Heat was dissipated by the installation of radiators over much of the
surface area of the plane in order to reduce drag

BTW, this world speed record still stands for piston powered....seaplanes.
The MC-72 was on floats and had an open cockpit.  It is a beautiful plane
and can be viewed at www.airliners.net-open.file-0259224-m-.url

I have an option to buy a Twinstar in about a year.  My question is could
Diamond use surface mounted radiators to cool the Thielert diesels?

Hal Morley