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Omit Rear Seat Vents?

1001001

Well Known Member
I'm ever so steadily getting to the point where I'll be putting the cabin cover on, and I know I'm going to put rear NACA vents in and pipe them up to an overhead console (I already have the NACA ducts). For those of you who have done this, have you bothered to install the factory rear seat vents? Are they worth doing, or should I just close up those holes and forget them?

If you did install them, how well do they seal against rain and cold air?

Related: For the rear NACA vents, did you do anything to install a drain on the duct, in case of rainwater induction?
 
keep rear seat vents!

Keep the rear seat vents, they are very efficient and controllable by your passengers. They are also very simple and seal tightly even in a driving rainstorm, at least mine do.
I also have the NACA vents on either side to supply fresh air to the overhead console. I have the butterfly valve installed so these can be controlled by the pilot and passengers have control of the outlet to direct airflow where they want it. These are also very efficient but only in flight and are not doing much on the ground when you need them most.
As an aside, those NACA vents are a good location to install OAT temp probes.
As to rainwater induction, the few times I got caught up in rain I did not notice any water getting into the ducts and since the tubing is going up a couple of feet to the overhead butterfly valve I don't think it is a concern.
 
The other thing that I’d mention about those rear seat vents is that they work half decent on the ground with the engine running. The rear NACA vents do NOT work on the ground with the engine running… they’re too far back on the fuselage to really get air into the overhead console.
 
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