"Value" of Lopresti Cowling?

[Marauder]

NOOOOO!      I feel like I'm a knight protecting useful loads all across the land... please don't!  (I can't remember if you already have bladders or not.)

 

He's got the bladders already, just not the HE man size bladders.

[fantom]

Inspite of what some here will tell you, John, size does matter. Go large, my friend. Go large!

.....and just how would you know

[DaV8or]

Just thinking a little off topic here-

 

For the vintage owners, I wonder if anyone could offer a brand new 201 conversion cowl set up for the vintage planes any cheaper than the Lo Presti? I kind of doubt it. Now an STC to use used factory parts is another story. 

[John Pleisse]

NOOOOO!      I feel like I'm a knight protecting useful loads all across the land... please don't!  (I can't remember if you already have bladders or not.)

 

I know......954 to 918...... the lady at O&N said they were considering tread mills for Mooney owners with their purchase. I really don't want to do it, but my plane has a lot of hours and my mission allows it. O & N is a 42 minute flight away and I will have the plane back in 5 days. I'd love to fly it to Wilmar and leave it, but I am doing a major refurb (paint, control sfc's, tanks and windscreen) and I will be on a schedule to line everything up.

 

Promise, I'll convert it back before I sell it.  :)

[John Pleisse]

Just thinking a little off topic here-

 

For the vintage owners, I wonder if anyone could offer a brand new 201 conversion cowl set up for the vintage planes any cheaper than the Lo Presti? I kind of doubt it. Now an STC to use used factory parts is another story. 

Hey Dave... I think Russell at SWTA still offers a 201 mod for pre J's. I think the cowl closure, a new spinner, new stainless and paint will do almost the same thing. Also, with these cowl mods for pre-201's, don't you have to relocate the battery and oil cooler? a lot going on.

[MB65E]

$20k for Lo Presti cowl will buy a ton of avgas!

If you could buy an aircraft with one great, but I'd rather have a fresh engine!

-Matt

[PTK]

If you could buy an aircraft with one great...

Not really!

 

The ones I've seen are horrible in fit. Uneven mating surfaces and non-uniform lines. 

 

Personally, I'd rather have the original. 

[jetdriven]

Hey Dave... I think Russell at SWTA still offers a 201 mod for pre J's. I think the cowl closure, a new spinner, new stainless and paint will do almost the same thing. Also, with these cowl mods for pre-201's, don't you have to relocate the battery and oil cooler? a lot going on.

The LoPresti cowl also comes with a real functional ram air that adds a bit above ambient, the carbon nose gear doors and rear door fairing, and the windshield wedge.

[DaV8or]

Hey Dave... I think Russell at SWTA still offers a 201 mod for pre J's. I think the cowl closure, a new spinner, new stainless and paint will do almost the same thing. Also, with these cowl mods for pre-201's, don't you have to relocate the battery and oil cooler? a lot going on.

 

No, actually he is out of the mod business. His "201 style" cowl is no longer available. For whatever reason, he never changes his website. My plane has his 201 style cowl on it. It was a good alternative. Much better than a simple cowl closure, but cheaper and easier than converting to a real 201 cowl and much, much cheaper than the Lo Presti.

 

It has the look of the 201 cowl, but it does not have the speed of a real 201 cowl. Also, it retains the vintage lower cowl, so taking the lower cowling off for service is still a major PITA. I'm told that the lower on a 201, or Lo Presti is no big deal to get off. On the other hand, the "cheek" panels on the vintage planes are kind of cool and the SWTA 201 style cowl retains those too.

 

On an F, or E with either the SWTA 201 style cowl (if you could still get one), the real 201 cowl, or the Lo Presti, you have to relocate the oil cooler, but you don't have to move the battery. The Lo Presti doesn't work with the B, C, D and G planes. The SWTA 201 cowl was available for C, D and G planes and the battery stayed put I believe and the oil cooler moved, but stayed up front, so not far. I'm not sure if there was ever an STC to put the real 201 cowl on a B,C,D or G plane and if so, what was involved. I would imagine yes, you would have to move the battery to the back of the plane and move the oil cooler to the back of the engine.

[kris_adams]

I'd add 5K for one that a LoPresti cowl over a comparable machine.

I'd also add 4-5K for a J with an operable Century IIB/S-Tec 30ALT or a Century III over one that didn't have an autopilot. The book may not add anything but it sure makes flying easy.

Cool, that's the AP setup I have.  Though its performed flawlessly for me, I've never really seen much good press about it.

 

Kris

[teethdoc]

Cool, that's the AP setup I have.  Though its performed flawlessly for me, I've never really seen much good press about it.

 

Kris

I bought my plane to go places. I love the King 200. I fly it to altitude, set the ap and cruise.

[jetdriven]

The S-TEC doesn't trim and therefore it only has about a 10 knot speed window before it beeps to retrim.  And it does not follow a glideslope, but other than that, it's been the best add-on to our plane yet.

[triple8s]

I'm not sure if there was ever an STC to put the real 201 cowl on a B,C,D or G plane and if so, what was involved.

The original 201 cowling was installed on the C, and would probably would fit on the G or B. (Carbureted/updraft) O 360 engine, but not sure if the STC was actually for the B,D or G. I also know the oil cooler on the C I had was mounted on the right side foot well and the air supply was via a scat hose from the rear engine baffling. The air filter was relocated to in front of the front cylinder on the left side. The air from it went down via scat to a carb heat valve, if I'm not mistaken it was one for a C-177. The biggest problem I had was the scat hose from the air filter would rub the cowl close to where it connected on t the carb heat valve which rubbed a hole in the hose in about 30 or 40 hours. I was always tending to that at every oil change. I usually slid a 3 or 4 inch piece of scrap scat (minus the wire)over top of the actual hose as a protector of the actual hose. I always longed for a front facing or horizontal intake like the cold air unit superior sells with fuel injection on my parallel valve engine. This would eliminate the clearance issues I had. On an E or an F I'd say the OEM 201 would be perfect, although nothing is ever as easy as it oughta be when it comes to an airplane.

[aviatoreb]

I think the lopresti cowl is very very cool.  Very clever modern aerodynamics, real speed increase, real manifold pressure/power increase and I think they just look cool.  I have seen two on two different airplanes that frequent my airport.

 

If I were buying a J, that would be a very desirable option to me.  If I were patiently shopping for a J, I might just wait for that feature as a must have and worth paying extra for.  How much extra?  Depends on the rest of the airplane's quality.  Take Bennetts airplane for example.  That must be the most pristine and tricked-out J in the fleet.