Heating (again)

[GraemeSmith]

Just throwing this out there...... Wouldn't do this on a painted plane.

An upside down "flat" top hat under the hull - a duct - that catches the waste exhaust gas from the tail pipes and "holds" it against the the underside of the cockpit to warm the metal before exiting the duct just aft of the the seat position. Probably need to have a "flare" or widening to it to create negative pressure at the outlet to be sure of pulling the gases through.

Removable for summer.

Pros / Cons / Idle thoughts? ???

[kmacht]

Not nearly enough heat energy coming out of the exhaust to capture for that to work. It will just be quickly displaced by the 100+ mph “wind” blowing into that same duct while you fly. Put your hands a foot or so away from the exhaust when the engine is running and you will find that most of the heat is gone even when parked. Lots of people have tried finding ways to get heat in a Sonex off an aerovee engine. The problem is that the engine just doesn’t create enough heat that you can capture to overcome the very drafty and uninsulated cockpit. A heated jacket/pants is the only thing I have found that kept me warm enough for winter flying in the Northeast. Milwaukee makes some really nice battery powered clothing that you can use without having to suck up any more amps than the little aerovee alternator provides.

[lakespookie]

I thought one or two people had successfully built a cabin heat box on the turbo aerovee

[Sonex1517]

I will vouch for the heated vest and socks. Thought I’m not flying my Sonex right now (long story) I am flying my Aeronca Champ. The “cabin heat” is non existent.

But I was given a battery powered heated vest and socks for Christmas and they are awesome! They keep me toasty.

Just my two cents. Worth far less.

[Rynoth]

I thought one or two people had successfully built a cabin heat box on the turbo aerovee

Some folks have definitely built cabin heat boxes, I think the question lies more in their effectiveness in actually warming the cabin air.

[Area 51%]

The early VW Beetles had a "stale air" heating system. It took the cylinder/head heated air and delivered it to the cabin. Carbon Monoxide poisoning was a secondary consideration. The smell of oil burning off the cylinders/heads undoubtedly prompted the change to exhaust based heaters.

Seal up your exhaust and punch a couple of 3" holes in the bottom of the firewall. Problem solved.

[kmacht]

The original beetle heat muffs were pretty marginal. The beetle had two advantages over the Sonex. The first was that only relatively slow moving air blew over the the heat muffs. The moving air was powered by a blower motor coming off the back of the generator. The speed and volume of air was much less than you will get out of a naca duct feeding the heat muffs on a Sonex while cruising at 100+ mph. It also extracted heat off the engine and cylinder heads using a fan shroud, not just off the exhaust heat muff.

The other advantage the beetle had was that the car was sealed from the outside elements. It had weather stripping along all the doors, windows, engine compartment, keeping the cold air out and the warm air in. The typical Sonex has all sorts of air leaks around the canopy, the wings, a big hole in the back where the tail wheel rod or tail skid pokes through, etc. it wasn’t designed to be weatherproof. The amount of air that gets exchanged inside the cockpit during a flight is just too much to overcome from a tiny heat muff off the exhaust. It might work good enough for those who live down south and consider temps in the 50s cold but for us that live in states that get cold enough to regularly see snow I haven’t seen a cabin heat setup that works in those conditions in a Sonex yet. It’s easier and more convenient to just buy some warm or heated clothing.

[Area 51%]

Sorry..........I couldn't find my "tongue-in-cheek" emoji when I wrote that.

[lpaaruule]

Between other static sealing, heat from my oil cooler, and the aileron control rod seal in the YouTube link below, my cabin is now plenty warm. I restrict enough air to the oil cooler to keep the oil temp in the upper green. One time restricted the air too much and the oil temp was close to redline. It was toasty warm on a cold day. Another video on my channel shows the cabin heat

http://youtu.be/d08yDM21-JI

[WesRagle]

Hi Guys,

Between other static sealing, heat from my oil cooler, and the aileron control rod seal in the YouTube link below, my cabin is now plenty warm. I restrict enough air to the oil cooler to keep the oil temp in the upper green. One time restricted the air too much and the oil temp was close to redline. It was toasty warm on a cold day. Another video on my channel shows the cabin heat

http://youtu.be/d08yDM21-JI

I'll plug this again.

I agree with Paul. I took a 0.4 flight this morning. It wasn't frigid, right at 32 Deg. F., so pretty chilly. It was plenty warm in the cockpit. I heated my Sonex, and now my Onex, with oil cooler exhaust. A good heat exchanger (rather than an ineffective little heat muff) seems like the obvious candidate to produce warm air. It's not that hard to do.











Wes