Eaglepilot2

Hi Guys,

I am installing a K-140 in my Avonds F-15 and was wondering what the RCU experts thought about the Avonds pipe. I have emailed Philip and although I have never questioned anything he has ever told me, after looking at the engine and the pipe, I'm nervous that the pipe may not be large enough. Philip has told me that the pipe will handle it, but it just appears really small for the size of the outlet of the engine. I have been flying it with a Ram 750 for years and have decided its now time for more power. It seems as though a lot of guys were/are flying them with P-120's and I was just wondering what everyone was doing in regards to the pipe. For the record, Philip has told me to tune it down to about 24-25 lbs. of thrust so that may be why he said it would handle it.

Any help and guidance would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,

patrnflyr

My Feedback: (7)

I never even tried mine. We ran a P-120 in a light setup through a Tam's pipe. A friend of mine used the Avond's one and his paint bubbled on the upper surface so he switched to a Tam's pipe also. It may be fine but I agree with you. A lot of work into building one of these and you sure don't want to risk losing the plane to a single wall pipe and heat tape

Shaun Evans

Hi,

Is the Avonds pipe single walled?

Eaglepilot2

Hi Sean,
Yes, the Avonds pipe is single walled. I have never had any heat problems with it. The design has an abundance of cooling air around and over the pipe. What did the Yellow have? They are practically the same size.
Thanks,

vinnyjet

My Feedback: (39)

ran a ram 1000 in avonds pipe for a long time
vinny

Shaun Evans

Hi,

The Y/A pipe was dual-walled. None around anymore, unfortunately.

SeaLance

My Feedback: (11)

Been running the single wall pipe of Avonds with no problem. Used both a K-140 and now a K-100 with the Jet.

Jason
Team Horizon

Eaglepilot2

Thanks Vinny and Jason, it sounds as if the pipe should be okay if you both had larger engines with no problems. I have the usual BVM heat shield and the ceramic blankets as per Avonds.

Thanks again for all the replies.

Eaglepilot2

Jason,

Can you give me some feedback on how it performed with the K-140 and now the K-100? I'm wondering if I would be better to go with the K-100 myself. What was your reason for changing?

Thanks

Shaun Evans

Hi,

Regular ol' aluminum foil beats the pants off ceramic blanket for heat protection. I experimented with both and the fuse skin is always ambient temp with the foil, but warm (or even hot) with the ceramic.

George

My Feedback: (57)

Shaun,

Do you mean just plain ol' aluminum foil taped or RTVed to the inside of fuse without any other "insulating" material between it, or something else?

Shaun Evans

Hi,

Yep. I use two layers of heavy-duty Reynold's brand. I crumple them up first so that there's plenty of air pockets between the two and tack them together with a few spots of red RTV. I then use good-quality aluminum tape (after I've cleaned the area to be taped to with acetone) to tape my foil blanket to the inside of the fuse. No kidding, the fuse skin over the foil is ambient regardless of throttle setting. Even a half-inch away from the pipe.

Oh, and make sure the shiny side is facing the heat.

George

My Feedback: (57)

I would never have guessed it would be better than the blanket. I'll have to give it a try; and I have the perfect application to do so, thanks!

sidgates

My Feedback: (2)

I have an outer pipe I made out of thin fiber glass with single layer of alu. foil on the inside. I haven't tried it but wondered if anyone else has done this?

ChuckC

My Feedback: (24)

Nope, but coming from the petrochemical sector earlier in my career, (where ceramic insulation is ubiquitous), I was always told it's not as much about the material, but the air gap or vacuum the material creates. Happens that ceramic survives some pretty intense heat, but the fiber make up air pockets, which themselves have a very high insulation value.

Shaun's experience with aluminum foil bears that out. The aluminum foil also reflects the radiant heat as well as the air gaps insulating the conductive heat.

Funny, a long time ago I was researching aluminum tapes for faux aluminum skin and there's a ton of products out there with a fairly high (relatively) heat resistant adhesive. For $80, I got maybe 10 inch by 100 feet of real aluminum with high performance adhesive; it's aggressive and works out like Flitemetal (soft). Anyway, I wonder if this stuff has an application here? Supposed to be aerospace grade, whatever that amounts to. I've ironically brought home a FLIR camera for other reasons, might be time to rig up some tests...

Craig B.

I have often made a insulation package of dry fibreglass cloth wrapped in foil and taped in place. Works a treat. Not a fan of ceramic blanket.

aquaskiman

My Feedback: (46)

I am running a k-140 with a single wall avonds pipe I have maybe 50 flights so far, the fuselage gets a little warm but nothing to worry about. I did tape a BVM heat blanket to the top and bottom of fuselage
hage

Eaglepilot2

Thanks George! That helps ease my mind too! Did you keep the pipe as is with the smaller inner pipe? Also what's the distance from the pipe to the exhaust nozzle?
Thanks again guys for all the help!

aquaskiman

My Feedback: (46)

Yes the pipe is stock just the way it came. 3/4 inch

Eaglepilot2

Thanks! I feel much better now!