I read a long and daunting write up from an aviation expert that listed the reasons why an air/oil separator is a bad thing. Originally, the device was intended NOT for oil recirculation but to keep the belly clean on tractor type aircraft. I don't have that kind.... Anyways, the author goes on to talk about how bad the oil becomes when sitting inside the separator and that draining it back into the engine is like hooking up a hose from your ass to your mouth. My only interest in what he said stems from what I found splattered all over my prop last week. Nasty black sludge. I decided I'd be willing to go through a little more oil in order to rid of the bad oil from re-entering my sump. This means I got to remove a couple pounds of hose and hardware :) I was also able to take the oil exhaust tube and modify it to keep it off the EGT clamp on cyl #6 that has been wigging out. Hopefully this solves that issue as well :) In other news, my test flight today was awesome. had a little precipitation so I got to see the exact point of separation on the winglets where drag is pretty noticeable. I'm looking forward to the blend coming soon! Finally, the biggest news: I've been getting only 2200 static rpm and haven't found the reason why until today. The induction hoses are sized fine and do not restrict airflow, but when I removed the 2" hose and allowed it to straighten out, I got a massive 100RPM increase! The 180 degree turns inside the tubing was robbing me in static RPM. In cruise it was not noticeable because of the high pressure air compensating for the loss inside the hoses. I've removed the entire induction system and will be finding a way to get RAM COLD air while not allowing more than a 90 degree bend throughout the system. This now makes sense as to why my original design worked so well. Back to the drawing board :)
