"Cirrus" wrote

I usually fly in C172s and C182s with the Lycoming oil cooled
engines that many of you are probably familiar with.

It would be unfair to call them oil cooled engines. Yes, the oil is important
to cooling, but the air flowing across the cylinders and heads is also very
important. That is why some planes with flat engines have cowl flaps that move,
and very tight fitting baffels around the cylinders and heads.

I still see planes
with the large radial engines (for instance, like what you would see on
a Dehavilland Beaver) flying around. I had thought maybe these were
just old planes that were well taken care of and still flying after all
these years.....BUT... It seem like the radial engines are popular in
bush flying, and I even see a number of seaplanes with Kenmore Air
(local small airline/airtaxi) with them in use.

2) Are there any significant advantages to them over the "newer"
engines?

The higher HP is a major reason, since you rarely see flat engines with HP
ratings of more than a bit over 300 HP. There are many radial engines that are
much larger than that.

Another very larger reason for bush pilots using the radial engines are
toughness and ease of repair. In WW II, it was not uncommon for a plane to have
a jug or two shot completely off, all of the oil pumped overboard, and still
have it return to land back onboard the carrier, still running.

Also, it is common for a bush pilot to have a radial engine failure out of range
of home base, land, have a jug removed, taken back to a shop, repaired, and put
back on the plane in the field, and flown out, or just have a new jug and piston
flown in and switched out.
--
Jim in NC