Gary Buster wrote:

I am wondering if others have experience based opinions regarding

how to plumb a cockpit heater with the coolant system...

Do you use the water or the oil system to heat the exchanger in the

cockpit?  (Or do you trust the exhaust to not leak and just heat up an
exhaust manifold can and duct it inwards... not very safe in my opinion!)

Do you use a valve or do you let it run/ cycle all the time.

Would you use a fan to just recycle the cockpit air, or do you use a

duct of external vent air to blow over the exchanger?

Just thinking about these things ya know!!

Gary Buster
Tyler, Texas

I'm thinking about using a complete heater/air conditioning assembly
from Vintage Air:
http://www.vintageair.com/  especially the Compac GenII.  It is less
than $400, relatively small, and lightweight.  I plan on putting it in
the cockpit aft bulkhead and running some very high pressure 8-) hose
between the firewall and it, covered by an aluminum frame.  This should
help offset the heavier engine weight, too.  Next summer, if the plane
can afford the weight and I can find some place to put one, all I have
to do is install an a/c compressor and run 2 lightweight hoses to have
air conditioning!

AI Nut

Al,

I too thought about using a vintage air unit. But unfortunately all that is
required is not just two light hoses. You need the condenser. This is
usually a copper tube, aluminum fin heat exchanger (big and heavy). It needs
the coolest air possible, so on a car it is usually mounted in front of the
radiator. You need a filter/drier, the big aluminum can looking thing under
the hood of your car. There must be some way to create enough flow over the
condenser while on the ground, like an electric fan.

The reason I decided not to go this route is the increased cooling air
necessary, combined with the already difficult cooling problems of the
rotary. The air conditioner will be run on the ground or during climb out,
which is when you need the most cooling for the engine. Although it would
truly be COOL, it adds quite a bit of weight. The mission profile of my
aircraft is a cross country machine. Since I can climb at 2500 fpm, the time
I would use the airconditioner, even in the summer, is very short. I decided
it was more trouble than it was worth. However, if you have a larger
aircraft with the room, and plan on doing a lot of low level flying in FLA
during the summer, it would definitely be worth it.

I decided to just use a cabin heater using a light weight aluminum heater
core and a ram air inlet supplying the cockpit. I will control the
temperature with a bypass door.

Monty

 
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