Keeping warm in the winter and at altitude

[Jcollinsimwisc]

Considering a M7260, I live in Wi, so keeping warm and being comfortable is a little important and we take some longer trips out west so there will be some time up higher. Short of doing all the sealing up, what are some of the other things pilots are doing. Thank you

[aero101]

Welcome- Sealing up doors, fairings, and all other leakage areas pretty much does the trick... I fly up here in pretty cold WX, but lower limit keeps going up as I get older. If leakage areas sealed, original heating system pretty good down to -10F to -15F, although still requires dressing warmly till you get in the air and heat gets going. If going out below those temps, there's an AUX heat muff that can be installed on the tailpipe with another valve installed on firewall. You can also have studs installed on mufflers that increase the surface area of heating area under the muffs. Biggest thing though is sealing leakage, and making sure all the scat ducting is properly installed whenever uncowled and cowled back up.

[Andy Young]

I built a short wall out of aluminum under the front seats, about 3/4 of the way to the back of the seat. This blocks heat flow from the front migrating to the back, keeping the front warmer. A lot of folks make one of these and place it at the front of the seat, but I wanted the underseat area to be usable to store things for use in flight (water bottle, charts, snacks, etc.).
I also removed the hose that goes to the rear heat from the firewall fitting in front of the pilot, and installed a small deflector that now blows that heat back at the pilot. Another deflector directs the heat from the right-side heat outlet back at the co-pilot (it normally blows sideways, to the left, over towards the pilot). This now gives me a sort of zone-heating control: "rear" knob for pilot heat, "front" knob for co-pilot. This works great, as my co-pilot tends to run a lot colder than I do.
I left the hose to the rear heat in place (though not connected) so I can easily reconnect if I have rear-seat passengers.

Andy

[aero101]

I have some 2" alum "Y" ducts onto which you can split 1 hose into distribution to 2 places for sale if anyone interested... Had them custom made by Atlee Dodge so they aren't real cheap...

[Jcollinsimwisc]

thanks everyone.

[Mountain Doctor]

I have not done this but....

I am a motorcyclist. One of the keys to riding year round in Washington State is an electric vest. They draw 30 watts so I think the Maules aux power outlet should handle it OK.

Wear the vest right over your shirt, and put a light jacket over that. You'd be good to go in almost any temp.

I do this in my convertible and on my motorcycles with temps down to freezing and it works fine.

The coldest OAT's I have seen have been -20F and it was COLD in the plane!

A big factor is the sun. Cold OAT's in the sunshine I'm fine, but if it's overcast or night time I miss the heat frorm the sunlight.

[Island Flyer]

Another place to look at sealing is the rear bulkhead and under the floor board in the same area. We put some seat cushion foam in there when we did the rebuild. There is a low pressure area in the empannage that causes air to be sucked through. Make sure your back seat vent in the floor if you have one isn't covered up. I use to keep the spare tire under the rear seat with a plastic bag around it. Happened to be right over the rear heater vent and effectively cut it off. The negative of all of this is that with less air flow if you have an exhaust leak into your heating system then CO will build up easier. I have a good CO detector (not the stick on kind) http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/co300.php that has an aural and visual alarm. It clips on the ledge right under the center of the panel. I do send it in for recalibaration. Here is an FAA paper on CO and the detectors http://www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/ar0949.pdf

[dbross]

Fly regularly down to -20 to -25C or about -10F. It is fine in the sunshine but cold otherwise and drafty. As most of my flying is done over relatively remote areas it is better to just be dressed for a night out (which around here can be -25-30F) rather than lightly dressed in a warm plane.

At least don't have to worry about CO.

Dave

[Skyjunky]

Has anyone ever experimented with an air deflector on the air inlet to help drive air down into the heater shroud? Cessna uses deflectors (or a scoop) which drive air down. My MX-7 just has a hole which doesn't seem to get the job done very well. I understand that some rear cylinder cooling would be sacrificed, but in the winter I don't think it would be an issue.

[crbnunit]

My 210 has a heater on both sides. I have done a little to insulate and seal the cabin but not a lot and it is still pretty drafty. With the dual heat, it is rare I have the heat all the way open and stay plenty warm. I had the pilots side heater on the other day and felt something hot in my lap. I touched the seatbelt buckle and that sucker was hot! I do generally dress for spending the night and carry extra layers with my survival gear.

[Island Flyer]

One other thing to keep in mind about the whole muffler heater shroud set up is that it is an area that gets lots of vibration and heat stress. Over time little cracks start to develop so every oil change I do a very thorough visual inspection with a mirror and a light of the whole assembly. Even a little crack will introduce significant CO. If you have patroller windows, putting a cover like a small blanket between your leg and the window makes a big difference.