enginehistory.org

[avasko]

This fan cooling thing kicked off a lot of memories. Cooling depends on cowling. Mechanics need access, airline wants low drag.
I admire the folks who restore old rusty radials and make them into ?runners? (and Graham and others too for liquid cooled ones). But to me they are running nude, naked engines. That's not I worked on back in the 1959;s. When I rolled my toolbox out, I saw a smooth aluminum shell in front and stainless steel aft.
We had some activity on this board on ?Greatest Engine?. I picked the P&W R-2000. Strange maybe for it was moderate power, used old parts from R-1830 and clunked when at idle and was only used in two production aircraft. Yet it made Trans-Atlantic crossing routine, thousands of times.
But if you asked what was the best engine installation, I would not pick it. It was a great engine under what became Douglas standard cowling. Three pieces, two long rows of DZUS fasteners (later Camlocs) and a funky bottom set of latches you needed a wrench to open/close. These were so beloved by Douglas they were still using them on the DC8-63. And you had to take the cowling off engine and put on ramp. So, great engine in DC-4 - not so not good access, cooling adequate but pretty draggy blunt face. No rear access doors to accessory section.
I nominate for best engine installation considering engine reliability, drag, cooling and accessability? Strangely, for I never worked on them myself, I pick the Convair 440. Big hinged butterfly cowling providing great access for techies, apparently good cooling through use of engine exhaust as an a aspirator in long stretch over the wing and look at that small nose cooling hole. I think it is amazing that enough air gets in to cool a late model Twin Wasp.
Please do not nominate the B-36 with its almost buried engines and definitely not the deeply buried coupled twin Centaurus in the Bristol Brabazon.
Maybe some opinions on turbine cowling too.