Comfort level between engines

[nwawingman]

Jake,

I just place an order on amazon for some of this material. Can't wait to try it out. I used some lite weight aluminum screen door screen channel I got at lowes to cut in 12 inch strips and run on di-angles in the open section of the turtle deck area using double sided tape. It made a world of difference with the oil canning noise effect. I think your idea might work even better. Just put it in every open area that could resonate vibration.

Thanks again!

[nwawingman]

I bought mine from Amazon, but verified it was the same stuff Aircraft Spruce was selling. It is Thermo-Tec 14620 60" X 36" Heat and Sound Suppressor. The product states: "
In addition to the polyethylene film the foil surface provides direct protection from radiant heat
Great for areas like firewalls, floorboards or doors
The Suppressor is also 70 mil in thickness, contains a high temperature adhesive backing and is easy to trim and fit
The Suppressor will reduce various road noises, engine noises and improve driver comfort and concentration"

I put the material on the inside of my firewall and on the floor up to the mid point between the spar and the firewall.

I also put a 8x8 inch square on the floor under the luggage sling and an 8x8 inch square on the floor in the section behind the luggage sling.

I am also going to experiment with putting an X made up of the material cut out of 2 inch strips on the side panels in the two forward sections of the tail (baggage compartment and section behind baggage compartment. I hope that these X shape cut outs will stop the oil canning and resonance in the tail without adding undue weight.

I have noticed significant sound and vibration reduction. It is still very loud at wide open throttle, but any power settings below that are significantly more quiet.

I also put weather stripping around the canopy. This cuts down on drafts and wind noise and keeps the cockpit dry.

Thanks,

Jake

Jake,

Wow! This stuff worked great! I flew yesterday and was amazed at the noise reduction it made. I notice the difference as soon as I started the aerovee up. I normally start the engine without my headset on so I can hear the engine without hearing protection.

Thanks again!

[Brett]

Just digging this old thread up... For those that have flown both the Aerovee and the Jabiru 3300, would you say the Jab engine is any smoother in cruise? Emiiting less vibration through the airframe in general or much of a muchness?

[Msing48]

Brett,

I flew my Sonex with Aerovee for 9 years and have been flying it with a Jab3300 for several years. I have also flown quite a few other Sonex aircraft with both engines and I can say that the 3300 is quite noticeably smoother. I think the difference is not so much a difference between VW vs Jabiru as it is 4 cylinder vs 6 cylinder. That said, I've also flown a couple with Jabiru 2200 and found them to be smoother than any of the VW based engines.

[Corby202]

In my opinion a Jab 2200 is the smoothest, quietest engine I have flown behind both in a Sonex airframe and a Jabiru airframe. I loved my VW engine in my Corby Starlet also but it wasn't smooth like the Jab. Flew in a friends Zenith, 3300 powered 601 and I thought that was good also.

[Brett]

Thanks for the replies guys. Much appreciated :)

[EdW]

Just for grunts 'n giggles, let's take this out of the realm of Sonex and put it into the Cessna family. As the owner of two (yeah, count 'em two) 172s I can attest that the '65 with the Continental O300 six cylinder is head and shoulders above the Lycoming O320 four-banger in the other bird for smooth operation.
But, by the same token, the two O320s on the Apache are the quietest, smoothest running engines I've ever flown behind (between?).

If they don't add to the grey hair count I can always use a noise-cancelling headset to offset the loudness shortcomings.

Ed

Just east of Graceland