I installed a cabin heater in my Bede BD-4C airplane this week. I did take the super easy route, simply dumping hot air into the cabin by the copilot’s feet. If that is insufficient, I will add some ducting later. It is a simple system.
- Take some air from the plenum,
- Route that air past one of the exhaust pipes to warm it up, and
- Shoot the hot air into the cabin.
I started by marking a 2 inch diameter hole in the back of the plenum.
Then I drilled small holes all the way around.
Once that was done, I cut the plug out and cleaned up the edges. Voila! A nice, neat two inch hole for the SCAT tubing that will carry air to the cabin heater.
I riveted on a flange, to which I will attach the SCAT tubing.
The heat “muff” or heat exchanger is a small aluminum tube which gets clamped around an exhaust pipe. This is from Custom Welding Products and Dave was very accommodating about making a muff that would fit my airplane.
The third component is a heater box controlled by a cable with a knob on the instrument panel. There is a flapper inside the box. The hot air either enters the cabin or gets dumped out the side. In this photo, the flapper is open and you can see into the cabin.
Here is the whole thing, with the orange SCAT tubing attached. Click to see the photo larger (or any of the other photos, too).
Any defrost plans?
None yet. I will add defrost if I need it. Do you have suggestions, John?
nice and simple!! i hope it works 🙂
Hot stuff, Art! ;>)
Looks good Art! My Pacer isn’t any more complex than yours except I have two heat boxes and one is ducted to the back seat. The only thing I see that might lower the effectiveness is the distance from the engine to the muff, my tailpipe is always cold when I land, not sure how far down the exhaust system the heat travels (I do have a muffler).