I am building the Seagull Texan with an Irvine 53 motor.

I have two problems.

1 The instructions state that the cowl should overhang the fsalage by 1/4 inch but if I do this it will foul the prop it needs to be nearer 3/4 inch, I have checked the position of the engine and it seems correct should I just assume that the cowl is overlong.

2 Should I expose the whole of the motors cyinder head or just allow access to the glow plug. It will obviosly look neater just to cut a hole for the plug but I fear that the engine might overheat.

Thanks

Dave C

Hi Dave,

If the instructions provided you with a firewall-to-thrustwasher measurement, and this is where you set the engine position, then you should assume the cowl is too deep. This can be expected from kits that are not exact scale.

As for the cooling, if you have adequate air intake on the front of the cowl, (I'd toss that conical spinner shown in the pic and use a Higley's hubnut type... Closer to scale) and enough area for the air to exit the cowl, then just cut the cowl enough to access the glowplug. Or use a remote plug adapter and keep the cowl intact if possible.

Good luck.

Dave

Thanks for that.

Its a bit suprising as all the other dimensions have been pretty much spot on.

I will have a look at the CofG tonight just to check the engine position.

I will keep the glow hole small and hope things don't get overcooked.

Dave C

IF airflow over the engine is a problem, by all means open it up a bit. I'd never want to be caught advising someone to run their engine hot. Hot engine = prematurely dead engine!