Open Cowl Cont. Fwd. Cowl Support?

[Howard Wilson]

What method is used to support the forward portion (nose bowl area) on the open cowl Cont.? I have seen some aircraft with none??? Thanks. H

[NC22211]

Re: Open Cowl Cont. Fwd. Cowl Support?

Howard: I am going to use the triangular shaped pieces I saw in an older post or in the Alliance Memories photo album. The bracket is shaped flat plate steel, drilled and bolted to the crankcase. The cowl attach end will have a post stud on it to hold the cowl halves. I only have one Boeing fastener on the front of the cowl pieces, toward the outboard edges which holds the two cowl halves to each other. I will punch a hole inboard of that for the post on the bracket to pass thru. The post will have a hole in the end for a safety pin to fix the position of the joined cowl halves. The problem I see with this set-up is that the back of the cowl halves are fastened to the Boeing clips on the boot cowl/airframe, while the front is attached to the engine. Flexing will occur as the engine vibrates in its mount. I plan to oversize the post mount hole a bit to minimize flex cracking. Does anyone else have a better idea or more experience with this to suggest a better set-up? I would post a photo but I'm not that far along to do any good. Making the cowls now.

[mikeg]

Re: Open Cowl Cont. Fwd. Cowl Support?

Howard,
If you Google "Open Cowl Taylorcraft", you will find a website with lots of pictures of an open cowled Continental powered B model T-Craft. Forward supports are similar to those installed on a J-3 Cub.
Later,
Mike Girdley

[baldeagle27]

Re: Open Cowl Cont. Fwd. Cowl Support?

BC-50 had brackets from behind the prop with a Boeing fastener on each side. Looks like the brackets are attached at the front crankcase bolts. I think this is the picture Bob is referring to.










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