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interior sound reduction

Skypunk

Member
I'm looking for input from anyone who carpeted their RV. I have a 7, and recently added the front carpet which significantly reduced the noise. Will a Baggage carpet reduce noise much further? Don't want to add weight unless its effective! Cheers!
 
I'm looking for input from anyone who carpeted their RV. I have a 7, and recently added the front carpet which significantly reduced the noise. Will a Baggage carpet reduce noise much further? Don't want to add weight unless its effective! Cheers!


Can't speak for a 7, however in my Mustang II the baggage compartment is exceedingly noisy with it removed. Carpet is a great insulator!
 
Carpets, both front and rear, do help reduce noise. I also have 1/2? styrofoam pads under the front pilot/copilot carpet which also helps. I use spray 3M glue to secure the carpet to the styrofoam. Around my tilt canopy I put 3/8? foam strip to assist with wind noise. The foam pads and weather stripping together probably only increase weight by one pound.

But to be totally honest, I still have to use Lightspeed Zulu 3 noise canceling headsets to truly give me a reasonablely quite environment. My hearing is impaired now due to a 22 year military career being both an Army grunt for my first 3 1/2 years and an USAF pilot for the remaining 19 years. So ANR headsets are a must.
 
Surface area and mass dampen sound. The softer the surface and the more area it has, the better. More mass is better too.

Unfortunately, we can't afford a huge weight penalty in our airplanes, so soft and mucho surface are the way to go, and carpet is a fine compromise there. Find a product with at a Class 1 fire rating, which typically means Nylon 6.6 fiber on the face. Wool fiber is even better. Polyester and Polypropylene face fibers are not what you want from a flammability standpoint. Abused, any of these products will burn, so buyer beware.
 
I'm looking for input from anyone who carpeted their RV. I have a 7, and recently added the front carpet which significantly reduced the noise. Will a Baggage carpet reduce noise much further? Don't want to add weight unless its effective! Cheers!

My RV-7A isn't quite flying yet, so I can't give a report on effectiveness, but I installed some soundproofing from Aircraft Spruce. I will also install carpet, so I hope to get a double benefit. I found this on someone else's website, and it really impressed me. This guy was installing some soundproofing in his RV. The benefits not only go toward reducing some of the noise inside an airplane, but provide some insulation and vibration reduction, too.

I did some research and some reading, and finally ended up ordering some of this material from Aircraft spruce.

09-01247.jpg


There's a 12-page booklet called "Soundproofing an Aircraft" that you can read online, available for free. You can also read some of the archived forum discussions by searching using key words like sound deadening, etc. There are mixed opinions, of course, but there's at least some consensus that much of the noise in an RV comes primarily through two places; the floor and the firewall. It seems obvious to me, if you think about it. An airplane is like a big aluminum drum. And you're sitting inside while the propwash, exhaust, and airstream are beating on the drum. There's lots of vibration going on.

I decided that for a very minimal weight penalty, I could install this material on the floor under the seats, baggage area, and forward floor. It's one of those creature comforts that I think will be an improvement. I would NOT, by the way, install this on the firewall!

This material comes in various thicknesses. It's a closed-cell vinyl-nitride foam with self-adhesive backing. It's FAA approved for fire safety, too! You can go crazy if you wish and put in 2" thick layers and really deaden the sound. I ordered the 1/4" material for minimal weight while still gaining a lot of benefit (I hope!). I can always pull the stuff out later if I don't like it. I carefully weighed each piece as I installed it. The total weight for everything I installed amounted to only 43 ounces.

Here are a few pics, installing it under my baggage floor, up the sides of the fuselage, and under the seats:

100_7160%20(Small).JPG


100_7161%20(Small).JPG


100_7203%20(Small).JPG


Finally, here's a link to the page on my website that shows more, and more discussion:

http://www.europa.com/~swayze/RV-7A/Fuselage/20091104.html

My website in general, home page:

http://www.BrucesRV7A.com
 
Don't put it on the firewall. Bad idea for the forward floor near the firewall too. Perfectly fine further aft.
 
I recall an article about sound proofing. The author installed sensors in all the panel areas (between bulkheads and stringers for example) turned out just a few panels generated the majority of the noise. Insulating just a few "panels" eliminated the majority of the noise and saved lots of additional weight from being added.

FWIW
 
$$

A while back there is another thread talking about sound deadening and I got all excited to do this until I read a post that pretty much said take all the money you would spend on insulation and put it towards a Bose A-20 and you will probably save money and definitely save on weight. I thought Good Point! bought headsets and now nice and quiet.
 
Here's a radical statement for you. Stopping sound is not that different from stopping heat/cold in your house. The thing that is far and away most effective is sealing up air leaks. If you have a particular panel that's resonating, then do something do damp it, or better, divide the panel into a couple of unequal sized smaller panels. But for overall noise reduction, seal up air leaks first.

Charlie
(sound tech in a previous life)
 
BSwayze
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skypunk View Post
I'm looking for input from anyone who carpeted their RV. I have a 7, and recently added the front carpet which significantly reduced the noise. Will a Baggage carpet reduce noise much further? Don't want to add weight unless its effective! Cheers!
My RV-7A isn't quite flying yet, so I can't give a report on effectiveness, but I installed some soundproofing from Aircraft Spruce. I will also install carpet, so I hope to get a double benefit. I found this on someone else's website, and it really impressed me. This guy was installing some soundproofing in his RV. The benefits not only go toward reducing some of the noise inside an airplane, but provide some insulation and vibration reduction, too.

I did some research and some reading, and finally ended up ordering some of this material from Aircraft spruce.


Another area to look at for sound reduction is the rear luggage bulkhead. I normally install the same soundproofing material to the back side of these panels, except in 1/4" thickness.
 
Im using some cork tiles in the foot area and carpet in the baggage area. I tried to burn through the cork with a torch and was unable to. It bulged and smoked a bit, but did not burn through. You can pick up a few tiles at hobby lobby or bigger stuff at HD. It is reasonably light and doesnt absorb fluids too much.

I have a carpet kit for the front, but after considering the issues with fire, I decided against it. Maybe I will change my mind later, but for not it is going to be cork.
 
Noise reduction?

Line the inside of the cockpit with 5/8 or better yet 3/4 sheet rock.

Honestly it takes mass to stop noise.

This guy sums it up fairly well.
 
My RV-7A isn't quite flying yet, so I can't give a report on effectiveness, but I installed some soundproofing from Aircraft Spruce. I will also install carpet, so I hope to get a double benefit. I found this on someone else's website, and it really impressed me. This guy was installing some soundproofing in his RV. The benefits not only go toward reducing some of the noise inside an airplane, but provide some insulation and vibration reduction, too.

I did some research and some reading, and finally ended up ordering some of this material from Aircraft spruce.

09-01247.jpg


There's a 12-page booklet called "Soundproofing an Aircraft" that you can read online, available for free. You can also read some of the archived forum discussions by searching using key words like sound deadening, etc. There are mixed opinions, of course, but there's at least some consensus that much of the noise in an RV comes primarily through two places; the floor and the firewall. It seems obvious to me, if you think about it. An airplane is like a big aluminum drum. And you're sitting inside while the propwash, exhaust, and airstream are beating on the drum. There's lots of vibration going on.

I decided that for a very minimal weight penalty, I could install this material on the floor under the seats, baggage area, and forward floor. It's one of those creature comforts that I think will be an improvement. I would NOT, by the way, install this on the firewall!

This material comes in various thicknesses. It's a closed-cell vinyl-nitride foam with self-adhesive backing. It's FAA approved for fire safety, too! You can go crazy if you wish and put in 2" thick layers and really deaden the sound. I ordered the 1/4" material for minimal weight while still gaining a lot of benefit (I hope!). I can always pull the stuff out later if I don't like it. I carefully weighed each piece as I installed it. The total weight for everything I installed amounted to only 43 ounces.

Here are a few pics, installing it under my baggage floor, up the sides of the fuselage, and under the seats:

100_7160%20(Small).JPG


100_7161%20(Small).JPG


100_7203%20(Small).JPG


Finally, here's a link to the page on my website that shows more, and more discussion:

http://www.europa.com/~swayze/RV-7A/Fuselage/20091104.html

My website in general, home page:

http://www.BrucesRV7A.com

Nice work Bruce!

I was thinking...

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Used it before

My RV-7A isn't quite flying yet, so I can't give a report on effectiveness, but I installed some soundproofing from Aircraft Spruce. I will also install carpet, so I hope to get a double benefit. I found this on someone else's website, and it really impressed me. This guy was installing some soundproofing in his RV. The benefits not only go toward reducing some of the noise inside an airplane, but provide some insulation and vibration reduction, too.

I did some research and some reading, and finally ended up ordering some of this material from Aircraft spruce.

09-01247.jpg


There's a 12-page booklet called "Soundproofing an Aircraft" that you can read online, available for free. You can also read some of the archived forum discussions by searching using key words like sound deadening, etc. There are mixed opinions, of course, but there's at least some consensus that much of the noise in an RV comes primarily through two places; the floor and the firewall. It seems obvious to me, if you think about it. An airplane is like a big aluminum drum. And you're sitting inside while the propwash, exhaust, and airstream are beating on the drum. There's lots of vibration going on.

I decided that for a very minimal weight penalty, I could install this material on the floor under the seats, baggage area, and forward floor. It's one of those creature comforts that I think will be an improvement. I would NOT, by the way, install this on the firewall!

This material comes in various thicknesses. It's a closed-cell vinyl-nitride foam with self-adhesive backing. It's FAA approved for fire safety, too! You can go crazy if you wish and put in 2" thick layers and really deaden the sound. I ordered the 1/4" material for minimal weight while still gaining a lot of benefit (I hope!). I can always pull the stuff out later if I don't like it. I carefully weighed each piece as I installed it. The total weight for everything I installed amounted to only 43 ounces.

Here are a few pics, installing it under my baggage floor, up the sides of the fuselage, and under the seats:

100_7160%20(Small).JPG


100_7161%20(Small).JPG


100_7203%20(Small).JPG


Finally, here's a link to the page on my website that shows more, and more discussion:

http://www.europa.com/~swayze/RV-7A/Fuselage/20091104.html

My website in general, home page:

http://www.BrucesRV7A.com
Ben,
I used this material (1/2") in my last plane. I was impressed with the fire resistance. I tested it with a plow torch. It was light and quite effective, although I do not have the decibel numbers to demonstrate by how much.
Daddyman
 
This may help a few.

We did a lot of homework on this subject and found the best answers from a company up in Washington State. Pegasus Aeromarine Inc., a mister Dan Newland 360-437-9360. They have a very good catalog of some of the best sound abating, absorbing and vibration & damping supplies. They have a good sample selection of aircraft acoustic treatment materials, you can order for about 20 or 30 dollars "I forget". They have a lot of very good information on their web sight and are easy to work with. The supplies they sell are light and made for everyday aircraft use. I am looking forward to spring when we plan to rework our fire wall and inside panels of our 8. You may wish to check these things out as well. Yours, R.E.A. III # 80888
 
Head set

Years back was flying several different light planes, Cessna, Grumman and such. Bought two sets of Telex head sets the good ones, they worked great didn't worry about noise or the problems with David Clark ones. Seems for some reason with me anyway the DC ones cause my ears to hurt. Only thing I could think of was I wore glasses.
Seems that would be the easy way to do things and never worry about weight or installation. Boyd in Chiloquin OR where the snow just keeps COMING
 
Insulation

I too insulated during construction. I used a Dassault product I found at a deep discount. It is about 1/4” thick self sticking dense foam. Because it is foam based I assumed it was intended for sidewalls only. I only insulated the area from the wing spar to the aft cargo bulkhead. My idea was to avoid the most likely area to have a fire. Since I never flew the aircraft before insulation I really cannot say how much/if any difference it made. I am quite please with the sound level I have.

2dbph90.jpg
 
We did a lot of homework on this subject and found the best answers from a company up in Washington State. Pegasus Aeromarine Inc., a mister Dan Newland 360-437-9360. They have a very good catalog of some of the best sound abating, absorbing and vibration & damping supplies.

The Aeromarine kits include plastic, vinyl, and foam FAR25.853 materials on a firewall. Really stupid.
 
Keep in mind putting insulation on the floor skins may promote corrosion if ventilation and drainage is inhibited.
Moisture and other 'stuff' will find its way in regardless on how hard you try to prevent it.
 
Sound deadening

I added Dynamat in patches when I built my RV9. It only needed small patches in order to kill the resonance, and made a very noticeable differance to the noise and removed all the ?tinniness? in the panels when rapping with knuckles on the outside. The patches only need to be a few inches square or rectangular to be effective. I have them installed in the 8 that I am now building. I suspect that deadening the rear of the cockpit in the baggage area is perhaps more important than the firewall. Having compared the performance specs between the solo weight and max all up weight, I am not too concerned about a couple of pounds in weight, particularly as my aircraft is polished.

Brent
 
Keep in mind putting insulation on the floor skins may promote corrosion if ventilation and drainage is inhibited.
Moisture and other 'stuff' will find its way in regardless on how hard you try to prevent it.

True. I am parked under the elements and I remove to dry the carpets/upholstery on regular basis. I have drain holes at lowest points on the fuselage and still have some moisture trapped. A soundproofing mat would be soaked and nearly impossible to dehumidify.
 
Yes.

The Aeromarine kits include plastic, vinyl, and foam FAR25.853 materials on a firewall. Really stupid.

Yes you are correct. But it was felt that to those few whom could pick and choose to be able to Roll their own with the wide selection of supplies available at that site it may benefit those few. We found a kit as a whole was not desired.
Yours, R.E.A. III # 80888
 
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