Sea Fury "Hood Scoops"

[440_Magnum]

Re: Wow!

I
Well, in the picture I looked at last night, this is very obviously shown. Lyle is running at high power, and the engine cowling is twisted several degrees to the left. What hadn't really sunk in before was that it offsets the scoop too...and there is a HUGE gap on the right hand side of the scoop...it must be a good six inches 'offset'...between where the scoop is mounted on the cowling, and where the back half is faired in to the fuselage.

I'm having trouble visualizing how that setup must have been...

With the Sea Furies, the twist doesn't matter so much because the carb is bolted to the engine, the scoop and ducting attaches to the carb, and it all gets rotated as a unit.

OK, on the Bear, how can ANY part of the scoop system be fixed relative to the fuselage? The carb twists with the engine, and the cowling twists with the engine. So if I'm understanding what you're describing in that picture, then not only is there a visible 'offset' where the cowl-mounted part of the scoop twists relative to the fuselage-mounted part, shouldn't there be ANOTHER big offset down in the ductwork? I mean, that carburetor inlet HAS to move also, right?

Another case of "this thread is worthless without pictures," but no cute babes involved this time....

[Randy Haskin]

Re: Wow!

I'm having trouble visualizing how that setup must have been...

The actual ducting of the scoop went into the cowl, no doubt, but an aerodynamic fairing to blend the taper at the aft end of the scoop could easily extend aft of the cowl itself and on the fuselage.

When power is applied, torque twists the cowling (and the part of the scoop attached to it), but not the fuselage (and the part of the aerodynamic fairing on the aft end of the scoop).

I haven't seen the photo, but I can visualize it.

[guest]

Re: Sea Fury "Hood Scoops"

I don't know enough about how the setup was done to answer your question, 440. But the intake/ducting doesn't necessarily have to be part of the cowling that twists. Look at the intake scoop on the Skyraider, and the one tried on Riff Raff and the original version on Sept. Fury. Those were behind the cowling, and they managed to still be connected to the carb/engine and deal with any twist.

Randy is right, also, in his observation. The part of the scoop on the fuselage is most certainly for streamlining and fairing. But if that 'aft' piece was only for cosmetic purposes, can you imagine the drag that it was creating when the engine twisted and torqued open the gap in the scoop? Thats air coming in at 400 mph with nowhere to go. If it was just for fairing in the scoop, I agree with John Slack that it undoubtedly would have ultimately failed.

(Sorry...at a different computer this morning, and couldn't log in as Speeddemon.)

[440_Magnum]

Re: Wow!

The actual ducting of the scoop went into the cowl, no doubt, but an aerodynamic fairing to blend the taper at the aft end of the scoop could easily extend aft of the cowl itself and on the fuselage.

Ahh, now THAT I can easily visualize...

[Blue Foam]

Re: Wow!

I'm having trouble visualizing how that setup must have been...

With the Sea Furies, the twist doesn't matter so much because the carb is bolted to the engine, the scoop and ducting attaches to the carb, and it all gets rotated as a unit.

The forward cowling on the Bear rotates, the aft cowl does not, the carb is under the aft cowl. This would still not be that hard to handle, except that the rotating cowl flange is too close on top for the duct to fit under and make it to the carb. So the duct has to rotate on top of the stationary aft cowl. There are many ways to make this work, however the early implementation on the Bear did not.

[Air Race Addict]

Re: Sea Fury "Hood Scoops"

It would probably cut down on visibility too.
Jarrod

Good example of what you are talking about with regards to visibility. This is Jack Slicker's Bearcat Escape 2 in 1974 and it shows just how much visibilty is lost if you go in a straight line from his eyes through the scoop. However, it seems these bearcats fly a little nose down, so if this is true, it would mostly be an issue during ground operations. I think someone else mentioned this setup on Escape 2 but I don't have time to find it right now. Just an FYI.
Bill aka:Air Race Addict
ME PLEEEEZ!

[Wilnit]

Re: Sea Fury "Hood Scoops"

Now THAT'S a hood scoop............