Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

[harpo]

Took cowel back home to check for final clearances and to do a basic tune up prior to making mold. Any comments or adivce would be appreciated. thanks, harpo

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

The cowl looks GREAT! That prop looks SCARY! Going to make a really fun wall hanging. Put a little clock with bent hands in the center.
Hank

I can't wait to see it hung on the firewall to see how straight it looks with the extra space over the front plugs.

[flybikefarm]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

Nice looking track roadster. George

[tim]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

that is one heck of a good looking cowl harpo cant whait to get me one too great work

[crispy critter]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

Cowling gooood,prop baaad. Can you make another boot cowl like yours?

[harpo]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

fooled around last nite and did some measuring , going to add alittle more clearance to the # 1 cyl easy to do now , before I put this in stone, long story on the prop, not mine , used it for fit , boot cowl , took the old one off used it as a pattern , rolled all the flanges in it , and rivited to the cowl , perfect fit , the glass cowl will fit perfect, it is dead nuts!!! Old body man , fussy about fit and finish, that is a must in my bizz , we specialize in mercedes benz ,ck out my web site autobahnbodywerks.com Will keep you posted on the progress , going to dial this thing in , and get her done , last piece of the puzzle before paint , been on and off of this project for 10 years , going to finish it this summer , hell or high water !!!!! HARPO !!

[barnstmr]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

Harpo, GREAT WORK. Beautiful job.
Have you decided on the materials you are using? You should nail it down (# of plies and what type of fabric for each ply, resin, hardener, etc...) Get this information down into a usable process specification. Then you are a step closer to PMA.

May be a dumb question... but would it be possible to shape the cowl in suc a way that you might trim off X inches at the back and fit a BC with the short mount? If so, your potential applications (potential sales) will go way up. Perhaps you are too far down the road for this. Just a thought.

Terry B.

[barnstmr]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

Hey Harpo -

Thats a neat exhaust. Looks like a modified version of the original style. Is that stainless? Whats the source? I would like to know more about it.

Also thats one HUGE alternator. what make is it?

[R. Winger]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

Ditto to what Terry said. If you could make the cowl to fit a BC, I'd sure be interested in one!

On that note, if anyone has a spare lower cowl in great shape to fit my '39?

Rog

[VictorBravo]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

Harpo, your plug looks real good from the pictures but you might have made one mistake that affects the desirability (not the usability). Although it's tough to tell from the angle you took the photos, it looks like you copied the LATE model T-craft cowling, which has a straight line (flat wrap) from the bottom of the nose bowl to the back of the cowl.

The majority of Taylorcrafts have a mild but noticeable curve (3 dimensional shape) that flows into the lines of the airplane better. Using that big straight line flat wrap shape would not only make it less attractive, and also it would prevent someone from trimming off the rear 4 inches of the cowling and using it on a BC-12D.

I can see how much time and effort you have put in already, but as you know it's a lot less work to change it in the plug stage before you pull molds off it. In terms of getting it FAA approved and having 300 customers for it over the next five years, you would be better off in my humble opinion to put in the curve now while you can just do it with a quart of Bondo and sandpaper.

As mentioned previously, be very very sure to put in an extra inch or two between the #4 exhaust pipe elbow and the front left bottom portion of the nose bowl... ESPECIALLY if you're using composite.

I applaud your efforts regardless of whether you re-contour it. If you ever care to make up molds for one-piece carbon or glass wing root cover straps that actually FIT right... I think a lot of guys would send you some money today!!!

Bill Berle

[VictorBravo]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

One more thing... those two ignition leads hanging next to the starboard exhaust pipes... those should be hung from the outer cooling baffle near the #1 cylinder with a plain aluminum Adel clamp and padded with pieces of cut silicone rubber tubing (lg. model airplane fuel line). The regular Adel clamps use low temp rubber which should not be near a hot exhaust system IMHO.

[harpo]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

Terry And All You Old T-crafters This Cowl Might Be Able To Be Trimmed Back The 4 Inches To Fit The 65 Hp Unit , Because At The First 4 Inches There Is Very Little Change In The Shape The Bottom Is Away From The Boot Cowl As It Is Its Not Like The Cowl Is In Touch With The Boot All The Way Around The Whole Perimeter , One Might Be Able To Massage It To Fit The 65 Hp Unit. Nose Bowl Is The Same , Im Going To Say With A Litte Tlc That It Would Fit Maybe With A Slight Mod . As Far As The Alternater I Think It Is A Skytronics With A Bc Starter Motor . Had To Make The Exhaust System To Fit The 0200 Install Because Of The Alt . Made All From Allu And Ss . Every Thing Fits Just Right . Will Keep You Guys Up To Speed With The Progress , Thanks For Your Input Harpo!!!!!!

[jgerard]

Re: Vacuum Bag Cowel Plug Pictures

Looks great! I would recommend you get some of the conical mount adapters and use the cones instead of the lord mounts on that engine. It will not only save the mount from cracking but also move the engine back just a bit so there is more room between the left fwd cyl and nose bowl. Take a look at the F-19 and C-150 mounts. They are designed to work with the O-200 lord mount engines and have a tube connecting the upper and lower attach points. Also the 0-200 powered F-19's do not have the opening under the prop like the BC series planes. If you eliminated that you could run a vacuum pump and ditch that venturi.