"Robinson, Chad" wrote:

I'm building a Cozy, which as you all know has a landing brake.
This would drop down right in front of the radiator. Obviously,
for times when you need a landing brake your engine cooling requirements
ought to be fairly minimal, but would the radiator get enough air in

those cases?

No but I don't think you would need much cooling on final approach.

To flip that coin around, would it be possible to simply arrange for
 an adjustable-angle radiator to have a much larger adjustment angle
possible?

If you can get the hose to flex that much or  build a sealed rotating
coupling.

In that case, it would create a hell of a lot of drag, and
it would seem to provide as much or more effect as the landing brake
itself. In that case, if you don't need the landing brake, you get the
parts/weight reduction as an added benefit. (The downside is that
controlling the radiator angle doesn't sound like something you do
with a simple push/pull cable. What do you envision for a control
mechanism in a pusher configuration? I can't quite envision what
this might look like to produce a strong, stable, and reliable control.)

Regards,
Chad

I think you would need an electric linear servo as the forces would
be quite high. McMaster Carr sells em.

Paul Lamar

Several Cozy builders have replaced their manual landing brake operating
mechanism with an electric system. I suspect that if that system is strong
enough to force the landing brake down against the oncoming slipstream at
120 knots, it just might also be sufficient to raise/lower a radiator.
       I have to admit that I like the simplicity and ease of installation
of this suggestion, but on the down side, I have to agree with Chrissi that
it is not that appealing when we try to make our canards look as sleek as
possible. It might have a lot of merit, however on tractor airplanes, such
as the RV series of aircraft, etc.  Just one more opinion....please don't
flame me.  The idea of slanting the radiator fins also sounds like it could
help in reducing drag, and possibly lessen the angle that the radiator has
to protrude below the fuselage?
 Another plus for this system, of course would be the possibility of
locating the stock Mazda oil cooler alongside the radiator, simplifying the
installation. I'm all for simplification.  It will be interesting to see how
much or how little drag this creates.  Hmmmm....very interesting.      Paul
Conner, 13b powered SQ2000 wiring up the injectors and high pressure fuel
pumps.

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