Greetings, I'm a new Maule owner, that is to say that I am new to owning a Maule, but not that I own a new Maule. I am a farmer in the most regulated state in the nation. My kids (all 5) are mostly self sufficient now, and I have a bit more discretionary income. My friends tell me that owning a plane will alleviate this situation. I bought a MT 7-235 as I think fits the use I have planed for it. I'm starting my training with a good friend and very accomplished Pilot, who besides being an all around great guy, is an Ag pilot, and A&P, has 20,000 + hrs. (8,000 + in TD) in everything from a De Havilland Moth to a G5, and he also owns an Maule M 5 that used to be a Highway Patrol Plane. After reading many of the articles on this forum, I decided to buy and train in the same plane that I wanted to own. Time will tell if I made the right decision, but for now I am having a blast. I have been reading articles on this forum for the past year. The wealth of knowledge that the members of this forum have is humbling to a newbe like my self. I do have a question that I would like to ask. I live in one of the hottest places in the country. We have two seasons here, Summer, and almost Summer. It's hard to keep any motor cool when the ambient air temperature is north of 117F and the relative humidity is 7%. Any and all ideas to improve the cooling on the IO 540 would be most appreciated. The baffling, rubber and oil cooler are all in very good shape, and the sheet metal flange is in place on the lower cowling. Thanks and Regards. Ed

Welcome to the family. You should plan a trip to the least regulated state at some point in your flying career! We don't generally have cooling problems up here so no tips from me. Your friends are correct. Consider the income problem aleviated!

You will love learning in the Maule.

Thank you for the welcome. I have been up to the Kenai Peninsula twice with my sons fishing. I realize that's really just a small part of Alaska, but it was stupid beautiful, just stunning. I didn't hear anyone talk nicely about the winters though. It's seems as though a lot of your neighbors are down in our desert that time of year. You read my mind, a flying trip to Alaska is a bucket list trip that I am truly looking forward to. Thanks again, Ed

Welcome indeed. I also don't have any trouble keeping my engine (an IO-540) cool, even though I run it half the year in Colorado. Even on hot days my cylinder head temps are in between 290* and 320*. As far as oil temps go, I have to have my oil cooler door (custom fabricated) most of the way closed most of the time just to get the oil above 180*. On hot days, I do open it, and with it open, on the hottest days, oil temps stay bellow 200. Hot days for me are around 90*. When it gets hotter than that, I run away to Alaska.

Ok, so none of that is likely helpful to you. Here's one bit of helpful advice I can offer:
"You can't manage what you don't measure". In this case, that means you need a good all-cylinder, digital CHT gauge, and a digital oil temp gauge. Trusting the stock gauges is not advised. Especially as most of them have few numbers on them by which to judge your true temps.

Andy Young

Welcome Hale -Yes, and congratulations on one of the best decisions you have ever made.
I fly in SA and we have only 2 seasons as well. hot and very hot.
on the IO motor with the oil cooler on the side it is advisable to fit a air-scoop or door to assist with cooling.

Welcome aboard, other than a wife I can think of no way faster to turn cash into noise. I second Andy's advice a good engine analyzer will pay for itself quickly. The piece of mind knowing what's happening in the engine room is great. Pictures of the other "women" when you can.

Thanks again for the warm welcome. We are fitted with the EDM 700 and it mirrors closely the readings on the Maule analog gages. It just runs warm in our hot temperatures, did I mention that were 250 ft below sea level? Some time ago I read an article, I believe it was here on this forum, on reworking the baffling and making a tunnel to help with cooling, but now I can't find it. Can anyone point me in that direction? I see that my friends M 5 with the Polish Franklin has an optional 2nd oil cooler on it, but I have not found anything like that for the IO540. I am very new to aircraft, but I have a lot of experience with air cooled motors in the low desert. If you want them to live a long and happy life, there's just no such thing as to much cooling.

Welcome! Post a picture of the bottom lip (egress) of your cowl on photobucket or some hosting site and get us a link to it. Should have a lip across the bottom, like 2" or so. Also triple check that the baffling seals are doing their job.

So what are you seeing for temps (cylinder head and oil)?

Work intruded once again. I had to make a trip to Arizona for the past few days. I have the temps written down in my notebook, I will retrieve them tomorrow and post them up. Thanks all.