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"SabreCowl" Update (part tres)


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The third and final installment of the cowl mod

I could not be happier with the mod.  WIth the larger openings, the temps are acceptable (350's) and I am comfortable saying I gained 4kt-6kt depending of conditions of course.

It was a long, sometimes frustrating process, but I'm glad I did it. 

I can tell you that David, @Sabremech is about as upstanding as it comes; in and out of aviation.  He takes pride in his work and wants to get things right.  Even if I gained nothing in terms of performance, I gained a great friend and to me, that's priceless!

If you are coming from a guppy-mouth or LASAR closure, expect at least a 4kt gain.  I don't know if you would see that much with a sloped windshield and aftermarket cowling already installed.  My plane was pretty much stock (except for the cowl closure) when we started the party.  147kt was the best I could get.  I now reside in the 150+ club. :)

Performance aside, I just think it looks cool.  It really feeds my narcissism.  :)  

I hope David sells a bunch of these.  He has really put his heart and soul into this project! 

 

 

 

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  • 3 months later...

Lynn (@AGL Aviation) installed the larger (~6") inlets from David (@Sabremech) on my E today. I took her up for a test flight - with cowl flaps closed CHTs are marvelous 335-345-345-315.

OilT 197. (I've not normally been able to run 75% power with CF closed due to temps)

OAT at 7500' was 7C and I was running at 75% - 23.5/2550.

KTAS was "only" 151 which is disappointing. We still have rigging issues going back to painting or before.

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4 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

Does the cowl open any easier than the stock ones for preflight inspection?

 I’m guessing ram air is lost?

My SabreCowl, now referred to a Gen1, is no different from stock. Gen2 will be a complete cowl replacement, 2 piece fiberglass as I understand it, @Sabremechwill have to comment on ease of opening it up, I suppose it will be similar to a M20J.

My RAM air was worth 1.1" MAP with the stock air filter air path. David's experience with the first F he converted was that, like the J, RAM air made little difference once the filtered air flow was improved. (FWIW, I was seeing 23.6 MAP at 7500' Monday - I no longer have RAM - which I sense compares to the unfiltered air MAP pre new cowl.) 

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I’m kinda wishing the Gen1 was going to be available for my C. What Sabremech is doing with Gen 2 makes total sense from a market perspective. But now that the design bugs are out of the Gen 1 design, it seems like a simpler solution particularly for the Cs and Gs.  

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2 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

Does the cowl open any easier than the stock ones for preflight inspection?

 I’m guessing ram air is lost?

Not sure what model you have, but the Gen2 will be easier than the older Mooney with all the screws. Ram air is deleted as there wasn’t enough gain from it after moving the air filter inside the cowling and the cost to keep it was too high. 

12 minutes ago, DXB said:

I’m kinda wishing the Gen1 was going to be available for my C. What Sabremech is doing with Gen 2 makes total sense from a market perspective. But now that the design bugs are out of the Gen 1 design, it seems like a simpler solution particularly for the Cs and Gs.  

I have a couple of Gen1 parts sets still on the shelf and they could still be installed. The Gen2 looks much better and fits more airplanes. There’s quite a bit more labor involved on the Gen1 and especially so if there’s been previous nose cowl damage as I found on both Bob’s E and Matt’s F. Lots of hours to make this cowlings right and thankfully I had other cowlings to use for parts. 

All in, I believe the Gen2 will be more cost effective and the aesthetics are certainly much better.

David

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On 1/10/2019 at 9:29 PM, GLJA said:

@Sabremech So..... how does a guy get his place in line for a ‘74F?

I have a few people who definitely want the new cowling and I’ve kept their info in my file to touch base with once it’s almost ready for prime time. I think that’s the best way for now until the project is much closer to being certified. I’ll post updates on Mooneyspace and will need to rely on someone to post on Facebook as I no longer do social media. 

Thanks,

David

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FWIW, I have flown 3 times in the past week since we installed the larger air inlets. Yesterday with Nancy along I purposely climbed to 7500' at 90 kias and full power to see how warm the engine would get. CHTs were 330-360 at the top of the climb and settled out at 310-340 when level at 75% with cowl flaps closed. Oil temp hit 200 max in the climb and settled in below 190. 

This is a great improvement - our work here is done!:D

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FWIW, I have flown 3 times in the past week since we installed the larger air inlets. Yesterday with Nancy along I purposely climbed to 7500' at 90 kias and full power to see how warm the engine would get. CHTs were 330-360 at the top of the climb and settled out at 310-340 when level at 75% with cowl flaps closed. Oil temp hit 200 max in thee climb and settled in below 190. 
This is a great improvement - our work here is done!
Almost exactly the numbers I experienced. Took a while, but nailed it!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

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On 1/10/2019 at 7:14 PM, Sabremech said:

Not sure what model you have, but the Gen2 will be easier than the older Mooney with all the screws. Ram air is deleted as there wasn’t enough gain from it after moving the air filter inside the cowling and the cost to keep it was too high. 

I have a couple of Gen1 parts sets still on the shelf and they could still be installed. The Gen2 looks much better and fits more airplanes. There’s quite a bit more labor involved on the Gen1 and especially so if there’s been previous nose cowl damage as I found on both Bob’s E and Matt’s F. Lots of hours to make this cowlings right and thankfully I had other cowlings to use for parts. 

All in, I believe the Gen2 will be more cost effective and the aesthetics are certainly much better.

David

I had assumed preservation of most of the old cowl with Gen1 meant much quicker, simpler install, but that appears not to be the case.   I shall wait it out.  Let me know when it makes sense to get in line formally for my C model. Don't forget the C/G owners need the cooling help more than anyone else!

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1 hour ago, Bob_Belville said:

FWIW, I have flown 3 times in the past week since we installed the larger air inlets. Yesterday with Nancy along I purposely climbed to 7500' at 90 kias and full power to see how warm the engine would get. CHTs were 330-360 at the top of the climb and settled out at 310-340 when level at 75% with cowl flaps closed. Oil temp hit 200 max in thee climb and settled in below 190. 

This is a great improvement - our work here is done!:D

Bob, I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear the results of the inlet rings on your bird. It fits consistently with the three models now that have the larger rings ( E, F, & G) all with similar results. 

Since the original rings were the identical size as the LoPresti inlet openings, it stands with good reason to believe that anyone experiencing CHT problems with the LoPresti cowling, to enlarge the openings to 5.75 inches. 

27 minutes ago, Rodeo John said:

Do we have a price for the dowel yet ? I have a 66 E and would be interested!

Pricing is estimated at around $6k with new cowling, baffling, induction system and spinner. 

David

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Just now, Sabremech said:

Bob, I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear the results of the inlet rings on your bird. It fits consistently with the three models now that have the larger rings ( E, F, & G) all with similar results. 

Since the original rings were the identical size as the LoPresti inlet openings, it stands with good reason to believe that anyone experiencing CHT problems with the LoPresti cowling, to enlarge the openings to 5.75 inches. 

Pricing is estimated at around $6k with new cowling, baffling, induction system and spinner. 

David

Too little for so much sexy. :o

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On 1/12/2019 at 7:05 PM, Sabremech said:

Bob, I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear the results of the inlet rings on your bird. It fits consistently with the three models now that have the larger rings ( E, F, & G) all with similar results. 

Since the original rings were the identical size as the LoPresti inlet openings, it stands with good reason to believe that anyone experiencing CHT problems with the LoPresti cowling, to enlarge the openings to 5.75 inches. 

<snip>

David

I suspect you're right. I wonder if the Lopresti would be a easy to change as my SabreCowl was? I don't think it took us 1 hour including opening the cowl to insert the new rings.

I'm looking for new cowl plugs. What have you guys done? For less than $150!

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RJ,

Check the ability to edit your own posts... MS allows for that... there is a button that only the poster can see to edit.

Siri always likes to change spelling without letting you know... :)

Best regards,

-a-

 

Now back to the program...

It is great seeing Sabermech’s work in progress and how it gets done... and the MS cloud sourced results are awesome. :)

 

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