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RV-8 heat

DMFenster

Well Known Member
Has anyone added a second heat box/muff to a Vetterman 4 pipe exhaust on an 8? My 16yo daughter is freezing in the back. Have aileron boots, weatherstripping on skirt at rear, reduced diameter of inlet at baffle (1 inch), put SS scrubber in heat muff. The only thing I have not tried is wrapping heat muff with insulating tape. Anyone have a suggestion on which tape to wrap heat muff? pics of second heat muff perhaps? Any suggestions welcome.

For the love of all things kind and worthy, help me warm up my child.

Dave
 
For a more conventional approach, some folks put heated seats in the back. I would do that before I cut a hole in the spar..
 
Wire it for a heated vest. Easy to do, and most folks are amazed at the result.
 
Wire it for a heated vest. Easy to do, and most folks are amazed at the result.

I agree on the heated vest - I have one that operates off its own battery pack for flying the little jet at altitude (there is no exhaust or bleed air for heat, and not enough amps to power a heater), and the vest does a great job. Well, that and the heated socks as well....;)

Paul
 
For what it's worth...

For mine, sealing up the air leakage from the back of the canopy took some time... A cover on the back of the canopy frame helped a lot as did some weatherstripping and fuzzy velcro under the skirt...

The single weatherstrip under the canopy frame bow still had a gap at the centre which would blow on the back of the GIB's neck which necessitated the additional foam in front of the bow. Quite effective but not the prettiest...

I used two muffs (but from mufflers in my case) and two air-boxes, the left one to the pilot's feet, and the right one mounted in the rear of the baggage well blowing to the back seat. The plastic valve shown melted and was replaced with a 2" aluminum fitting, works just fine throttled from the air-box.

If you really want heat the real solution is mufflers, but that may not be feasible with your 4 pipe system...
 

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I installed a second heater valve on the lower right of the firewall. It connects to the outlet with a scat tube. I do have a Vetterman trombone exhaust with two muffler/heat exchangers.
The rear of the canopy was treated with some weatherstripping.
So pretty similar to Ron´s setup.
Also have electric seat heaters.
The second heather valve really blows warm air to the rear along the right side of the cabin.

Where do you guys get the heated vests?
 
Where do you guys get the heated vests?

Google is your friend for heated seats, and heated vests. I know the motorcycle guys use heated vests.. I used to ride with one and it was so warm! Now they have thermostats so you can adjust the temp too!
 
I really like the heated seat setup I installed in my RV3. Somehow keeping my fanny and back warm just makes everything good. I also have a heated jacket if it’s really cold or if I’m flying at night.

I purchased the heated seat system from Flyboys.
 
Weatherstripping source?

Hi Ron-
whats the source of that half round hollow weather stripping, would love to use that to help seal my rear seat area as well.
Tim
 
Not a 4 pipe. But concept is the same.
http://mstewart.net/super8/rearheat/index.htm

As Kahuna points out on his web page, the center section web has almost zero shear stress in it. All of the shear is taken out by the pair of bolts that attach the spar shear web to the F-804 bulkhead near the side of body on each side. Inboard of those bolts, in theory, the shear should be zero. The center section has upper and lower spar cap bars that carry pure tension and compression, no bending. The web in between has very little stress of any kind.

I would be completely comfortable putting a 1.5" --2" hole somewhere in the center web area with lots of edge distance to any other holes. I will certainly do this on my next one.
 
I tried all the usual tricks to increase the heat output. Then one day I realized it's actually putting out plenty of heat. I think the biggest issue is lack of insulation. Put your hand on the fuse side and it's like touching a block of ice. I don't know that any exhaust muff based heater is going to keep up with that.
 
I wish I could tell you where the half round weatherstripping came from but the synapses are just not connecting. It was 6 years ago... I just kept looking at automotive / Rec Vehicle / aviation suppliers till I found something that looked about right. The foam stuff was from a "road-able" RV supplier...
 
The weather stripping I used came from Home Depot. Works great to stop the draft. I’ve replaced it once in 15 years after the old stuff stopped sealing. Not high tech, but works great.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I decided the easiest approach was to get electrons to provide the heat.
Gerbing makes high quality motorcycle riding gear.
I got this:
https://www.thewarmingstore.com/gerbing-gyde-12v-heated-vest-liner.html
https://www.thewarmingstore.com/gerbings-portable-dual-temp-controller.html
https://www.thewarmingstore.com/gerbings-battery-harness.html

and a panel mount power connector:
https://www.thewarmingstore.com/gerbings-mounted-port-kit.html

When you turn this thing on high it gets HOT. Not warm, but HOT. Like no way I can turn it all the way up hot.

Haven't flown with it yet, but I am confident it will keep my daughter comfy in the back.
BTW: There is also a panel mount controller which I didn't want to spring for, but it would make it a super clean install.
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/gerbing-12v-panel-mount-single-temp-controller?sku_id=1232772

Dave
Woodbridge, VA
RV-8 Flying
 
Felt Stripping for Sealing canopy... mcmaster.com

So once I found the right felt.. with a good adhesive backing..

Sealing up the canopy ... was easy...

Supplier: mcmaster.com


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Hope this helps...
 
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