Hi. What do you guys think? Is there enough head sticking out into the propwash to cook this DLE 55?

I've been flying DLE 55's completely enclosed except of an opening for spark plug in a Top Flite P51. 100's of flights Never had a over heating issue.

Chris,

Could you post a pic of what your nose looks like on the Stang?

Prop wash will do nothing for you. You need to get air forced through the fins and exhausted away to pull off heat. Here are some good tips in this thread. Pe has passed away but he really knew his stuff about cooling. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/gas-...t-results.html

Thanks.

Seems like a lot of that information is pretty focused on engines that are totally enclosed or close to it. I'd disagree that prop wash 'does nothing' for you, though. Forcing cool air over a hot thing tends to cool it, no? I always thought that's why we put our hot batteries in tubes with little fans or why we blew cordless leaf-blowers at our turbines before they came out with auto-cool features. If the engine were on the front of a Stik (or other plane sans cowl), cooling isn't a concern or consideration at all, so I'm pretty confident that air moving over the head will cool an air-cooled engine. My question is whether or not enough of the head looks exposed to accomplish that. Some people say the meat-n-potatoes of cooling are all at the top of the head--others say it's lower on the case. That stuff I really don't know...

I'ts pack away for winter, but I'll try to dig up a picture. You have way more of the head sticking out then I ever had.

Wow,

No cooling issues with that, huh?

None.

This is a DLE 55RA in a Top Flite Mustang. I have a couple of hundred flights on it with no issues of overheating. Sometimes I get a bit of vapor lock on a hot day if I try and start it again right after I shut it off.

You will be fine Shaun, just be sure you run good oil like Klotz or Bellray or something on that level and use 91/92 octane non ethanol gas.
As long as the head is getting direct cool air it will be fine. The head is the hottest part next to the exhaust port itself but it has the exhaust bolted to it which pulls heat off the manifold.

My Mustang runs awesome with this set up on side exhaust version DLE. 100mph with a Xoar Carbon 22x10 prop

What plane is that?

Thanks.

Chris, that's a Yellow Spit.

Your Mustang does not have the chin scoop just below the spinner or an exit for the exhaust?

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Get some black "Header Paint" from the local auto parts store and paint the cylinder with it. Darker colors radiate heat better. the difference will be as much as 10-15 degrees or even a bit more. Every bit helps.

Never heard that one…. cool.

Hi,

I was thinking, "No, that'd be ugly." Then I remembered how much I liked the look of my YS engines...

The heat-dissipation advantage of black paint is fairly small, but it is measurable. Flat finish is best due to increased surface area.

Another completely misinformed, inaccurate statement by you. At least you're consistent.

I would think that you may have overheating issues on a hot day. Since the Spitfire has zero cold air intake, the crankcase, lower cylinder, exhaust, and carb will all run in a very hot environment. The radiated heat from the muffler will make the the bottom end of the engine run hotter and will probably vapor lock on you. The Mustangs have a some flow through with the chin scoop, and in flight there is a blast of cool air on the entire cylinder of the engine. Also the flowing air has a much better chance of sucking some of the hot ambient air inside the engine compartment out as it enters and exits the cowl area.
The Spit....no flow, no way to extract hot air.
My 86" Jeff Foley designed Me109 is setup very similar to your Spit. The original had DA-50 and had to have a Naca-ish shaped type cut-out directly in front of the cylinder. Even then, the mixture has to be perfect and it still gets HOT!!! So hot, that that glass fuse above the engine gets hot to the touch and the carbon fiber spinner gets hot after a flight. I am using a G-62 in mine since they are more tolerant to heat with their larger, thinner cooling fins. I am also trying to run a remote muffler mounted behind the firewall, in the oil cooler area in an effort to remove a major heat source away from the engine.