After completing the baffling provided in the RV-10 Firewall Forward Kit, I installed the traditional Air Flow Fabric in order to seal the gap between engine cowling and the baffling. Ultimately I was not happy with all the seams, gaps and crevices with the Air Flow Fabric. Swiss cheese comes to mind. Yes, 99% of piston GA engines use a flexible fabric to seal and cool the engine, but I was intrigued with a few carbon fiber plenums I encountered. And considering IO-540's in tight Bearhawk engine cowlings are reported to run hot, I decided to take a stab at fabricating my own carbon fiber plenum.
The finished product...
With the Air Flow Fabric installed... that I later removed and replaced with a carbon fiber plenum.
Preparing to cast the plenum. Installed aluminum angles around the perimeter of the baffles to create a lip to attach the plenum. Removable panels will use Sky Bolt receptacles.
Poster board cut to size and secured with anti stick silicon release tape. The poster board was later coated with a PVA release agent and topped with a mold release wax.
Another poster board used to size and cut the carbon fiber. Three sheets total.
Masking tape around the perimeter keeps the CF from fraying.
Masking off the entire engine to protect it from the epoxy resin.
Three pre-cut CF sheets applied with epoxy resin between each sheet.
Insulated the gap between the aluminum angles and the plenum perimeter with high temperature felt, commonly used with BBQ grills. Sky Bolt receptacles were also installed.
Split the carbon fiber plenum into 4 integrated panels. The two outside panels allow quick access to the top spark plugs.
The finished product. I particularly like the two inlets that were boxed to direct air to the top of the cylinders (high pressure)
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