Steinair eyeball vent install

rockitdoc said:

Got the 2” eyeball from steinair. Tasty. But you have to fab a way to mount it. The vent bracket from vans on the -14 has a 2-1/2” hole in it. The way i did it the eyeball will be difficult to remove once ‘glued’ in position becuz i fabbed a new bracket with a 2” hole. But, if i did it again id just fab a plate with a 2” hole screwed to the vans bracket. That way it could be removed if needed.

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rockitdoc said:

So, I re-did the mod. This is the way to do it, imho. Way easier.

Just fab a piece of 0.060" AL with a 2" hole. Cut to fit plastic NACA duct and Van's supplied AL bracket. Then match drill the three pieces and install screws (which can be machine CS if the flat AL you fab is 0.060" or thicker).

This is better than my first prototype because now the eyeball can be removed if needed later. Like when a bird gets caught in there.

BTW: That larger Steinair vent fits the Van's whole better (it's 2.75" vs the 2.6" hole provided), but it's almost 4" deep, which makes it necessary to modify the plastic NACA duct, as the previous poster indicated. I agree, this is a much more difficult way to go.

I also agree that doing an extra 12 hours work just to get cool air ducts might not be for everyone, but it's these little custom touches I like and which add to the fun of building a one-off flyer. And, these vents are really nice pieces. Very high quality workmanship.

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Bavafa said:

Thank you for posting your pix and your method.

What is the size of these vent (air inlet opening)? I like the larger one since it was an 1.625" and allowed for more air but not as higher velocity (if that make sense). I have been in planes with the smaller vent which seemed to shoot a high blast of air in one smaller spot.

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