Greetings!
This section covers the
baffling and oil cooler fabrication.
The engine baffles on this aircraft were made for a Harmon Rocket Baffle kit
made by Craig Lefever. They were nice quality, but needed a lot of
modification to fit the F1. Most work was needed at the front of the engine
and at the rear, particularly where the oil cooler interface lies. Above is
a completed photo showing the oil cooler mounted to the engine frame. This
system has proven to work very well during the Florida summer, with oil
temperatures running 210 deg F on the ground and 175-190 in flight.
This photo shows how the oil cooler was mounted to the engine frame. I used
ADEL clamps and lengths of 3/8" steel brake line with the ends flattened to
form brackets to span the gaps between the oil cooler and the clamps. It
works very well and has not needed further modifications.
Note the top of the baffle. Here, I formed a partial plenum to span the
width of the engine. This solved the problem of sealing the irregularly
shaped rear baffle. In the first picture on this page, you can see the
single piece of baffle seal that spans the top of this part. It makes a nice
tight seal this way. As the engine dances around quite a bit, the flexible
junction between the baffle and cooler was made from more silicone baffle
seal material. The aft edges were glued to the oil cooler with a thin bead
silicone sealant. This setup seems to work well as no problems have
materialized.
Both oil cooler fitting are towards the inboard.
Here is another view of the oil
cooler after all the little holes were sealed up with sealant, and the
baffles seals were added.
This picture shows the right
hand side. Nothing here much to note except were I picked off the air for
the heater. You can see how close I had to cut the aluminum above the
forward cylinder to keep the cowl from contacting here.
One last picture showing
another view. This picture and the one above are quite high resolution. If
you save them and view them full screen, you'll see more detail on things
like the prop cable attach etc. Remember, the baffle seals bends inward when
putting the cowl on, especially the seals on the front center baffles. This
keeps pressurized air in the cowl to do its work!
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