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Air-cooled Engine




Most modern Internal Combustion Engine s are cooled by a closed circuit carrying liquid Coolant through channels in the engine block, where the coolant absorbs heat, to a Heat Exchanger or Radiator where the coolant releases heat into the air, and so on, ad infinitum. Thus, while they are ''ultimately'' cooled by air, because of the liquid-coolant circuit they are known as ''water-cooled''. In contrast, heat generated by an air-cooled engine is released directly into the air. Typically this is facilitated with metal Fins covering the outside of the Cylinder s which increase the surface area that air can act on.

Many Motorcycle s use air-cooling for the sake of reducing weight and complexity. No current production automobiles have air-cooled engines, but notable past models include the Volkswagen Beetle and related models, Citroën 2CV , the Chevrolet Corvair , the Porsche 911 and others.

Most aviation Piston Engine s are air-cooled, including most of the engines currently ( 2005 ) manufactured by Lycoming and Continental and used by major manufacturers of light aircraft Cirrus , Cessna and so on. Notable exceptions have included the Allison V-1710 and Rolls-Royce Series of (most well known, the Merlin V-1650 ) liquid-cooled V12 engines which powered P-51 Mustang s, Avro Lancaster s, Hawker Hurricane s and Spitfire s.

It is worth noting that in all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat generated (around 44%) escapes through the exhaust, not through either a liquid cooling system nor through the metal fins of an air-cooled engine (12%). About 8% of the heat energy finds its way into the oil, which although primarily meant for lubrication, also plays a role in heat dissipation via a Cooler . {Link without Title}