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Improved Cabin Heat Muff

glasserw

Member
I presently fly an RV-4 based in Las Vegas, NV and was asked by Dave Edwards to evaluate his new design for a heat muff. This will be the second year that I have flown with his design and have to say that it does outperform my previous heat muff by a considerable margin. Granted it is not that cold in Las Vegas, but I recorded readings at 12,500 over the Sierra Nevada mountains of OAT of 15F while the cockpit temperature was a comfortable 65-70 degrees. The only heat outlet in my plane is on the floor in front of the back seat passenger. The heat from this single outlet was sufficient to heat the front seat as noted.

Removing the muff for Condition inspection involves removal of only two hose clamps around the muff body. For those of you that are looking at your heat needs, this is a simple, yet efficient muff for installation.

This heat muff is available through Aircraft Spruce (item pictured) and others as the Turbo Heat Cabin Heat Muff.
 
Thanks for the review. My cabin heat muff is loose and inefficent. This looks like a decent replacement.
 
I presently fly an RV-4 based in Las Vegas, NV and was asked by Dave Edwards to evaluate his new design for a heat muff. This will be the second year that I have flown with his design and have to say that it does outperform my previous heat muff by a considerable margin. Granted it is not that cold in Las Vegas, but I recorded readings at 12,500 over the Sierra Nevada mountains of OAT of 15F while the cockpit temperature was a comfortable 65-70 degrees. The only heat outlet in my plane is on the floor in front of the back seat passenger. The heat from this single outlet was sufficient to heat the front seat as noted.

Removing the muff for Condition inspection involves removal of only two hose clamps around the muff body. For those of you that are looking at your heat needs, this is a simple, yet efficient muff for installation.

This heat muff is available through Aircraft Spruce (item pictured) and others as the Turbo Heat Cabin Heat Muff.

Thanks for the PIREP. I need to improve my heat before the cold wx arrives. Wondering if I should add something like this in series to what I already have ore replace. I assume that you replaced based on your note.
 
If you have the room series installation well definitely provide more heat ,my Maule has a series setup and has the best heat of any single engine plane I'ave experienced. I hope I can get as nearly as much in my 8 project.
If room under the cowling is lacking try packing some corse stainless steel wool in your existing heat muff . This does 2 things to help , adds more hot surface area and slows down air flow rate which makes the air much warmer .
 
Turbo Heat Muff

I installed one of Dave Edwards Turbo Heat Muffs (purchased at Aircraft Spruce) in my RV8 as a replacement to the standard Vans unit. First I installed it without the restrictor plate in the outlet. The result was lots of flow but not a lot of heat. I then installed the restrictor plate...lots of heat...not much flow. I then drilled out the holes in the restrictor plate and reinstalled it. Now I have a good combination of flow and heat. This muff, along with some strategically placed weather stripping on the fuse that the canopy seals against, has made winter flying a lot more comfortable (I'll take off the canopy and apply the weather stripping to the skirt for a neater solution). I think running a second muff in series with this one would really do the trick...might do that for next winter.

(Dave was very quick to respond to my request for a custom unit that replicated the inlet and outlet openings on the unit I had...great customer service and fast production time. Highly recommended.)
 
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