Simviation Forums

I saw this Cessna at my home airport last night and i dont know if i would have flown this in like this...is this even safe? let alone legal to fly?



thanks for looking and enjoy
comments welcome and discussion is more then welcome also
Jason 8-)

Yep it's legal.  the skin of a plane is for aerodynamic purposes only.  I see it done all the time with flap canoes and things like that.

....and banner planes!!

I wouldn't recommend it much though.  Air cooled engines need the cowling to help force the air over the cylinders and keep cool.  As for half a cowl, I imagine it would soon be pulled off by the 100+mph wind it will encounter.

It is legal, and the only reason cowlings and internal baffles are designed to force air over the cylinders is because that is necessary when there is a cowling.

Banner-tow airplanes don't fly without cowlings (or baffles) because their owners can't afford cowlings... it cools the engine much better, and the aerodynamic penalty is negligible because they are not trying to go fast (and can't, really, towing a huge, draggy banner).

The remaining part won't come off if it is attached properly, but with this particular Cessna I do see one problem: no air filter. You wouldn't want to operate that engine for very long without one, and I think most banner-tow airplanes have some sort of rig to keep a filter on the intake despite the lack of a cowling.

thank you for the insight guys...i just thought this was wierd to see on the tarmac

You don't want to know what the average cigar tube can fly without

Matt

Did you actually see it fly? Cause it could just be sitting there waiting for maintenance.

You don't want to know what the average cigar tube can fly without

Matt

Please tell us you have some pics. 8-)

You don't want to know what the average cigar tube can fly without

Matt

Please tell us you have some pics. 8-)

N144UP missing its flap Canoe

Did you actually see it fly? Cause it could just be sitting there waiting for maintenance.

True... looking at it again, I think it could be chancy flying it like that because of the exposed baffling... not really made to meet theslipstream head-on like that (?).

Did you actually see it fly? Cause it could just be sitting there waiting for maintenance.

True... looking at it again, I think it could be chancy flying it like that because of the exposed baffling... not really made to meet theslipstream head-on like that (?).

Sean, you think that is chancy, I seem to remember you flying around without the skin on top of the wing!!!!!!!!    :o  I couldn't resist!!!!!

Did you actually see it fly? Cause it could just be sitting there waiting for maintenance.

True... looking at it again, I think it could be chancy flying it like that because of the exposed baffling... not really made to meet theslipstream head-on like that (?).

Sean, you think that is chancy, I seem to remember you flying around without the skin on top of the wing!!!!!!!!

I saw this Cessna at my home airport last night and i dont know if i would have flown this in like this...is this even safe? let alone legal to fly?

If it flew in like that did it occur to you that the lower cowling might have dropped off en route?

Did you actually see it fly? Cause it could just be sitting there waiting for maintenance.

True... looking at it again, I think it could be chancy flying it like that because of the exposed baffling... not really made to meet theslipstream head-on like that (?).

Sean, you think that is chancy, I seem to remember you flying around without the skin on top of the wing!!!!!!!!