Quote:
Originally Posted by wildfire8
Going threw the engine bay the air has to flow around all the stuff in there. So that makes turbulent air. If you stop the air from going it then it will reduce drag.
|
That's what it was like when it was completely blocked off with no exit. No exit means no air going in. The grill is just acting like a parachute with air going in a certain distance and spilling back out
frank lee and I were arguing about this months ago.
The grill opening is small, the outlet is small. That means air slows down quite a bit going through the BIG engine compartment. Let's say the open cross section of the engine bay is 4x that of the inlet. That means the air would slow down to 1/4, and have 1/16 the drag as if it were full speed.
That would explain why the outlet vent on that plane reduces drag so much... Because of the small cowl opening, engine bay drag is low, and it acts as a tube to let air through.