cabin heat

[larry]

I have tried everything from sealing up every hole on my longez to try to get heat, or any air hot or cold.  Seems like a pressure difference that stops air from the heat muff on the exaust from comming up to the pilot area.   Any ideas?    thanks

[rglos]

I tried the same thing off my heat muff years ago and got the same results. Tore it all out and never went back to it.

Now your post stirs new ideas

Ever try the air vent in the canopy and then open the landing light-air just gushes in.

Maybe we need a place for the heated air to flow to ie a vent near the back?

Rick

[gshevlin]

I  had a heat muff system installed 18 months ago. It plain did not work. I could not get any significant amount of heat upfront in the plane. I removed it a couple of months ago, since all it was doing was adding weight for no positive benefit.
I intend to relocate the battery from the nose to the firewall later this year, and then install an oil cooler/heater and blower motor in the vacated battery area.  Based on other owners' experiences, this would appear to be the best way of getting a lot of heat up front in the plane.


Graham Shevlin
N131JF
Designed by Burt, built by Jesse Huerta

[Anonymous]

I have an Oil Cooler (Cabin Heater) that sits above the nose gear. It works GREAT.  Read ARTICLE and photos on my web site;

www.iflyez.com

My plane is currently undergoing some extensive retrofits. I will probably redo the heater, and build it into a thigh support in the rear seat (maybe).

Waiter

[Charles Davis]

We are planning on putting a second oil cooler in the area above the main landing gear.

(We have downdraft cooling, so the engine air intakes are on top of the strakes.)

This will have a divert vane controlled by the pilot to direct the air into the cabin or as waste out through the cowl.

We will run a scat tube up near the pilots feed, and put a blower there to suck the air from the heater.  This fan will have a 3-speed control.

The idea is to keep from having to run oil lines all the way from the engine to the nose of the plane.

This is an untested idea (as far as I can tell), and we won't know if it's working until we fly (about 6-9 months from now).

[Waiter]

We will run a scat tube up near the pilots feed, and put a blower there to suck the air from the heater. This fan will have a 3-speed control.

Good idea. My original scheme worked great, unfortunately, I had to sacrifice room in the nose for my hydraulic pump.

I'm not concerned about running oil hoses, I used Aeroquip -8 hose and fittings.

I was thinking about putting it all in the hell hole, but if there are any fuel fumes (my sump is now in the hell hole), the blower motor could be a source of ignition. (BOOM)

So I looked at maybe putting everything in a thigh support for the rear seater, (The area in front of your butt and just below your knees when your sitting in the back seat).

I like your idea, I didn't think about splitting components, i.e. the heat exchanger in the hell hole and the blower in the nose. That might work.

Waiter

[Charles Davis]

Let me know how that all works for you if you get there before I do.

[Bruce Hughes]

Graham, I could NOT believe that you would consider moving the battery.   The battery is your life insurance.   The weight is needed as far up front as you can get it to get a proper weight and balance (at least it is in my Longeze).   What aircraft are you talking about?   There are other ways to get the air moving.

Bruce Hughes

[rjtong]

I might be addressing this issue in the near future also.  Has anyone tried 12 volt portable car heaters.  Are they not sufficient for this application?  Or is it to risky to have an exposed heating element in the cockpit?

R

[Charles Davis]

Any thoughts on whether the fan could push the air forward, so I could vent some it to the passenger?

Or, will it be necessary to suck it with a fan to outlet near the pilots toes, and let the heat flow back through the cockpit and back to the passenger.

Also, any value in having some of the heat divert to the front of the canopy to improve visibility when it fogs up?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Graham, I could NOT believe that you would consider moving the battery.   The battery is your life insurance.   The weight is needed as far up front as you can get it to get a proper weight and balance (at least it is in my Longeze).   What aircraft are you talking about?   There are other ways to get the air moving.

Bruce Hughes

This is a Long-EZ with a long (Davenport) nose. It weighs 960 pounds empty with an O-320. I weigh 220 pounds, and with me in the front and 15 gallons of fuel, the CG is way ahead of the aft limit (around 95 compared to 103). The only way I could currently go aft of the limit is with a pilot weighing less than 90 pounds, low fuel and a rear seat passenger weighing more than 260 pounds.
If I relocate the battery to the firewall and replace it with a nose-mounted oil cooler and blower, I will still be forward of the aft CG limit. Even with a less beefy pilot up front, I believe that the W&B will still be within limits. Moving the battery to the firewall will shave several pounds off the all-up weight, since I will be able to reduce the run of a very long length of size 0 battery cable that runs from the alternator all the way through the plane up to the nose.

[Anonymous]

I use a small Kerosene heater in the back seat. Really warms things up, and it does double duty to heat the hanger when the Long-EZ is being worked on. Jet A also works fine in it. Only problem I have is my CO alarm keeps going off but I pulled the fuse and that fixed that.

Safe Flying!

-John