Untitled - Aero Resources Inc

(Gran Turismo Omologato, as in Ferrari,not Pontiac; LoPresti prefers thenobility of the prancing horse-hedrives a Ferrari-to the tire-smoking,in-your-face attitude of the GeneralMotors muscle car; if it were otherwise,he probably would be flying aComanche 400).The LSM cowl gives the 1965Comanche a contemporary look,much like Piper's new firewall-forwardtreatment for the Saratoga andSeneca. The Piper and LSM cowls lookvery similar but were developed independently.In fact, cowls featuringthose distinctive circular, protrudingcooling inlets have been used on otherdesigns-Ed Swearingen's SX-300 andLance Neibauer's Lancair kitplanes,for example.LSM arrived at the specific shape anddimensions of the circular inletsthrough trial-and-error flight testing.Experimental cowls were coated withdyes that, in flight, revealed areas ofhigh- and low-efficiency airflow into thecooling inlets. LSM didn't start out withcircular inlets, but that's where it arrivedafter testing a variety of other shapes.The cowl also has a refined shape forthe induction air inlet below the spinner.As with the cooling inlets, themouth of the induction air scoop iscloser to the propeller than on thestock cowl to capture more of the energyof the prop blast. The air then travelsdown an expanding duct to furtherpressurize it. Beech took the sameapproach several years ago with theKing Air, extending the air intake on thePT6 cowl to just behind the propellerdisk. Beech calls it the "pitot cowl."Each side of the new cowl is hinged.Unscrew a half-dozen cam locks oneach side, and you can then lift thecowl to reveal the engine and accessories.Although the hinged panels donot extend as far down the sides of thecowl as on the standard Comanchecowl, it's still possible to get a socketon the lower set of spark plugs withoutremoving the lower cowl. The nosebowlalso can be removed withouttaking off the entire cowl.New baffling is installed as part ofthe cowling change, and the oil cooleris relocated from below the engine tobehind it.The cowl also features longer nosewheeldoors that completely enclosethe nose gear when it is retracted. Onthe stock airplane, the short nosewheeldoor is connected to and actuated byAOPA PILOT· 61