What looks alarmingly like fuel leaking from the right wing is the ADI system at work. On the left wing you can make out a bar going across the cooling system intake, (I think that's right, remember, I know next to nothing), this is where the anti-detonation injection takes place.
This does something or other to make the plane go faster, or not blow up, or both. Hey, at least I take good pictures. . . |
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From reader Tom Griffith: I believe that the spray bar in front of the "hole" in the left wing sprays water onto the oil cooler to keep the oil for the big R-3350 at a "cool" temp, both when racing and even in the pattern, and maybe even taxiing. As far as the spray coming out of the right wing, I'm not sure, unless it's routed by ducting from the left wing where the spray bar is (or I've been smacked on the head a little too hard again). Regardless, the ADI water (sometimes a mixture of water/methanol to prevent freezing of plain water) is injected into the intake system to help cool the charge of fuel/air and allow the engine to run at higher manifold pressure and prevent the charge from detonating (exploding all at once when compressed in the cylinder by the piston doing its thing before the spark plugs can set fire to the charge and make it BURN instead of explode), hence the term Anti-Detonation Injection. We had it on several models of planes in WWII and it allowed their engines to develop maximum horsepower without literally "blowing up." The ADI couldn't be used all the time because the ADI tanks took up space that was needed for fuel tanks. Compromises, compromises... |
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