Posted by Admin on Monday, December 4, 2006 @ 07:08 PM:
It is 20 degrees F outside! What methods have people tried to provide some cabin heat in RF4s? Is there room for an exhaust heat exchanger under that pretty cowling?
Steve
Posted by Collin on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 @ 09:57 PM:
Hi,
My toes are cold too. I have been flying with three pairs of socks. I also been thinking about headed socks form Gerbing's. I have some headed motorcycle gloves I am going to try the next time I fly.
I hope to do some wave flying with the engine off is why I am looking at electric heat
http://www.gerbing.com/heat/socks.html
Collin
Posted by dannparks on Monday, December 11, 2006 @ 05:20 PM:
So what gets coldest - feet, hands, or body? Would a heated vest help keep everything else warm? Or is it best to heat the extremities? A heat muff off the exhaust looks impractical, but it seems like it could be possible to make some sort of duct to channel air off the oil cooler. Anybody tried that? I was realizing how nice the heater was in the RV-6A -- and how cold it would be without it...
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Dann Parks • RF4D #4051 N2188 • now flying!
Pictures at: https://picasaweb.google.com/111628310900713778468/RF4D_N2188?noredirect=1
Posted by Admin on Monday, December 11, 2006 @ 09:04 PM:
I was wondering that too. My oil temp runs at about 60 C on a cold day. If enough of that was transferred to the air flowing through it, I would think it would make a pretty decent toe heater.
It has also been suggested that chemical foot warmers from the ski shop might be a good method too. - They last for hours.
Steve
Posted by dannparks on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 @ 12:22 PM:
One way to do it would be to make a 2" hole in the firewall and put one of the stainless steel flapper vents (like on an RV) fed by a 2"" scat tube ducted off the back of the oil cooler. The oil cooler would need to be fed high-pressure air from under the top of the cowl. That's a lot of stuff to fit into a tiny space, and it may reduce the effeciency of the oil cooler.
I'm thinking about mounting my oil cooler under the engine and feeding it with its own cowl scoop in a similar way Vans feeds air to the carb in an RV. There might be more room under the engine for the scat tubes and vent to make it a cabin heater too. This would be a lot of work (if it would work at all), and as Collin mentioned, it won't provide heat with the engine off.
A simple heated vest (or socks, or gloves) would be a lot easier.
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Dann Parks • RF4D #4051 N2188 • now flying!
Pictures at: https://picasaweb.google.com/111628310900713778468/RF4D_N2188?noredirect=1
Posted by dannparks on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 @ 05:22 PM:
...I also saw a heated golf cart seat cover at Gerbing http://www.gerbing.com/heat/cartseatcover.html that could probably be used on a RF seat. Not quite as cozy as foot warmers, but nothing to put on or plug in. Might be able to take it apart and sew it into the upholstery. Heated car seats are sure nice...
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Dann Parks • RF4D #4051 N2188 • now flying!
Pictures at: https://picasaweb.google.com/111628310900713778468/RF4D_N2188?noredirect=1
Posted by Jorgen on Monday, May 7, 2007 @ 06:11 PM:
Hi everyone,
sure lot of interesting topics on this forum! Regarding electrically heated socks- just wanted to share an incident from the yearly easter waveflying camp in Vågå, Norway. Glider pilots fly from the frozen lake and regularly report +15 000 feet heights- and two solid frozen feet! One guy (sorry, no first hand information) decided to use electrically heated socks and although the wave that day was very good he was seen to spiral out of the sky, land on the frozen lake, throwing himself out of the still rolling glider while ripping boots and socks of his feet and doing a five minute, bare-footed indian war dance on the ice!
In the somewhat cramped inside of an RF 4 I doubt if even Houdini himself would be able to remove a pair of socks (after all, his trick was to dislocate his shoulders, not his feet) so I guess the moral of the story is to try out the correct current BEFORE flying.....
Just 4`fun/ Jörgen, SE-XST
