Actually that is what Lopresti found when he went over the Mooney's
cowling. Remember when they went from the big pie plate opening next
to the spinner and then they were two tiny 4" dia hole as far away from
the spinner and center as possible. And after that everyone had that style
f they were going fast or just pretending to.
The prop does drag air with it as it rotates and does stuff it back into the
cowl. Lopresti found the cooling improved as well. If I recall right he thought
it was due to how much of the time the holes were covered by the blades
and stuffing the air in and dragging it back out as the blade passes. The
closer to the prop hub the worse it does this.
Thats actually kind of interesting Walter, I wouldn't have thought you
would see that on a trailing edge cowl. Guess it shows just how strong
that wave really is.
Dave
My theory is that the bow wave from the prop would actually push air back into the rear opening. Maybe someone with more insight could add to this!
Waiter