Had the hanger door open the other day and a "ramp guest " stopped by to chat. It turns out that he flies for several corporate clients and two of them happen to have business offices in the local area. So, while he was waiting for passengers, he noticed the bright yellow Chief and came to tell his story and complain about not being able to schedule time in Pittsburgh where he has a Champ hangared. a very interesting person and we (a friend of mine was at the hangar with me) had a great gab-a-round about all kinds of things and I told him of my favorite passengers' complaint about the inadequacy of the Chiefs' native heater system. I described some of the alternatives which I have heard of but hadn't decided which way to go. He threw in the increased weight penalty for my ideas and then said there is an alternative which involves installing baffles in the normal chief configuration which provide a substantial increase in heat capacity by simply baffling the heating air flow with small inserts into the regular Aeronca system. Presumably, this is available as an STC owned by an Alaskan pilot or business which is maybe Atkinson or Acheson sp ? . He also thought the business is a repair station kind of place for bush aircraft. Well, a long story to ask if anyone on this forum has heard of this approach
and maybe has enough info that I can make some inquiries.
Dale
a different Heater configuration ?
Re: a different Heater configuration ?
Dale,
The biggest improvement I've found is to install a baffle on the outlet side of the lower pressure cowl. It seems the main problem is keeping the oil temperature ands heat up in cold weather. This partly blocks the air flow around the engine. There are those who block off part of the air flow at the 'bug eyes' but I worry about overheating the cylinders although it might be a wash either way. I don't know that it's STC'd but is shown in the L16 manual so can't see where putting one on would be a problem.
I've been able to get the oil temperature up to 175 or so during cold weather but you need to keep an eye on it once the ambient temperature is 40-50 degrees. The A65's burn so little fuel it's hard to make enough heat without some control over the air flow.......my theory for whatever it's worth. If you have "Y" pipe exhaust and no mufflers the problem is worse. One other fix is to cover the oval hole behind the prop with a plate.
Mike
The biggest improvement I've found is to install a baffle on the outlet side of the lower pressure cowl. It seems the main problem is keeping the oil temperature ands heat up in cold weather. This partly blocks the air flow around the engine. There are those who block off part of the air flow at the 'bug eyes' but I worry about overheating the cylinders although it might be a wash either way. I don't know that it's STC'd but is shown in the L16 manual so can't see where putting one on would be a problem.
I've been able to get the oil temperature up to 175 or so during cold weather but you need to keep an eye on it once the ambient temperature is 40-50 degrees. The A65's burn so little fuel it's hard to make enough heat without some control over the air flow.......my theory for whatever it's worth. If you have "Y" pipe exhaust and no mufflers the problem is worse. One other fix is to cover the oval hole behind the prop with a plate.
Mike
-
Paul Agaliotis
- Posts: 2589
- Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 18:49
- Location: San Martin, California
- Contact:
Re: a different Heater configuration ?
Dale,
Most of the heaters here on the Left Coast are seldom used. I did see one aircraft that had a spring, like a screen door spring, wrapped around the pipes. I assume to increase the surface area exposed, don't know if it worked.
Paul
Most of the heaters here on the Left Coast are seldom used. I did see one aircraft that had a spring, like a screen door spring, wrapped around the pipes. I assume to increase the surface area exposed, don't know if it worked.
Paul
Mailing Adress : Paul Agaliotis 2060 E. San Martin, San Martin,Calif. 95046
Re: a different Heater configuration ?
I've often thought of making the outlet opening baffle controllable with a cable that can be adjusted from inside the cabin (prototype of course 
). Kind of life cowl flaps on the big radial engines. I did have a hinged flap made at one time but never finished it as it probably warmed up and I didn't need it then.
Mike
). Kind of life cowl flaps on the big radial engines. I did have a hinged flap made at one time but never finished it as it probably warmed up and I didn't need it then.Mike
Re: a different Heater configuration ?
I'm not familiar with the heater modification but I'll bet the Alaskan he was talking about is F. Atlee Dodge. jrh
Re: a different Heater configuration ?
jrh,
I think you are right. that name sound much more similar to what I heard than my previous guess! I'll try to use it to stir up some info. do you have any other information about this person or his company?
Dale
I think you are right. that name sound much more similar to what I heard than my previous guess! I'll try to use it to stir up some info. do you have any other information about this person or his company?
Dale
Re: a different Heater configuration ?
After a small amount of internet research, I established the business contact for F Atlee Dodge and made an inquiry. this was a long time ago now. They never gave any response to my question. bigger fish to fry in Alaska, I guess.