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LoPresti Wholey Cowl
The WHOLEY COWL mod
for the Comanche 260 and 260B consists of a new polished Hartzell spinner, new spinner backing plate, an all new cowling
firewall forward, constructed of carbon and fiberglass, 2 new
long nose gear doors that close the entire stock cooling air exit
in the Comanche’s belly, a dedicated electromechanical actuator
and mechanical linkages that drive the nose gear doors. Also included
is a sequencer for the nose gear system (the dedicated actuator
is required to keep the doors tightly closed during high speed
flight), a new induction system, a new induction system air filter,
a new and larger oil cooler placed behind the engine with the
appropriate new oil lines and air duct lines, a single cowl flap
with a locking mechanical cowl flap control in the cockpit. This
mod also includes the new baffles at the front end of the engine
plus new engine baffle seals all around.
The reduced drag provided
by the WHOLEY COWL mod provides 15 MPH in additional cruise speed
at 75% power. This 15 MPH is in addition to the speed provided
by the three under wing mods also available for the Comanche that
provides an additional 9 MPH. The WHOLEY COWL is much easier to
remove than the stock cowling and provides better access to the
engine.
The transformation provided
by the cowl mod and the other mods makes such a dramatic change
to the airplane’s appearance and performance that the airplane
has been renamed the Comanche GTO. See articles in AOPA PILOT
magazine, May 1994 and FLYING magazine July 1994. The AOPA PILOT
says
"Once a Comanche
owner sees and flies his GTO airplane, he is going to realize
it’s a whole new airplane".
The new cowl mod does
not require a new propeller. However,
a propeller designed specifically for the 260 and 260B Comanche, and the Comanche GTO airplanes has been designed
to optimize the airplane’s performance. This new propeller
is called the SynchroPulse
propeller. The propeller raises the engine’s critical
altitude by providing a little bit of supercharging and provides
an increase in the cruise speed of 3 MPH. The SynchroPulse propeller
has a curved leading edge, a swept back tip and a flap just outboard
of the spinner. The flap forces a pulse of air into the induction
system inlet, with pulses arriving at each cylinder while the
intake valves are open. The static thrust is increased 15% yielding
snappy acceleration and better take off and climb performance.
What the Comanche customer gets is 25 MPH more
speed, approximately 10% more range, improved
climb, better fuel efficiency and shallower glide.
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