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BigJohn

Well Known Member
I know this is jumping way ahead of myself, but living here in the frozen north I can't help but wonder how good the heater in the Rotax is. I read that the heat comes off one of the liquid radiators, like a car. Does anyone have any experience or anecdotal evidence on this topic? Those of you with fuselage kits - how does the heat get transferred/ducted into the cockpit?
 
I'm very familiar with getting heat out of a Rotax 912S into the cabin of a Rans S-12, but not the RV-12. In the S-12 there was plenty of heat. I used to fly with a sweat shirt on when it was 20F. I'm assuming there should be a good flow of heat into the cabin of the RV-12.

I haven't started the kit yet, so I cannot comment on the design.
 
Heater

I am not finished with the FUSE kit yet, but I don't think any of that stuff is in this kit. Not even real sure how they do heat this plane. That's real faith isn't it !

John Bender
Iowa
 
Larry is correct - the stock 912S muffler / heat muff generates PLENTY of heat. I rarely use the heat in the CT.

I don't know how effective it will be in the -12, but I suspect you will be plenty warm.

TODR
 
the_other_dougreeves said:
Larry is correct - the stock 912S muffler / heat muff generates PLENTY of heat. I rarely use the heat in the CT.

I don't know how effective it will be in the -12, but I suspect you will be plenty warm.

TODR
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The RV-12 doesn't use an exhaust muff for cabin heat. It uses air heated by the coolant radiator.
 
JBPILOT said:
That's real faith isn't it !

John Bender
Iowa
Click to expand...

Funny you should say that. I've gotten greif from the locals about ordering 1/2 of a plane that is not even done being designed yet. "It's Vans..";I said. No need to worry. That is faith....or stupidity. ;)

Heat in the cabin is the last thing we should be worrying about! :D:D:D (kidding)
 
In the 2 Kitfoxes I built with Rotax 912's, the heat was just like on your car... there was another "radiator" in the cockpit with a fan that would blow air over it to heat the cockpit. The temp was controlled with the same type of valve used in auto's: an inline water valve with a cockpit push-pull cable. I put another cockpit-controllable flap over the outside radiator, much like we do with the oil coolers on our air-cooled engines. The heat was wonderfully pleanty, and no CO threats. And for the naysayers worried about coolant leaks, I never saw any. We've been using this same set up on cars forever, and with the proper hoses and clamps, it is worry free. I did change out the hoses and flush the coolant on a bi-annual basis just for peace of mind.

Vic
 
I had the radiator type heater with a blower on my Kitfox as well. That said....the heat would COOK you out of the airplane on the ground and during taxi......enjoy it.....cause as soon as you were airborne you'd be freezing cold at anything below 30 deg :eek:. This was in a well built and sealed (as good as you could get it) Kitfox. Hopefully the cabin in the 12 will be a little warmer :rolleyes:.

There are some pics of my Kitfox heater in each of these links.....I figure the 12 would be a similar installation. In the pics (bottom pic in each link) you'll see the switch for the blower and the control knob for the valve to contol the water flow:

http://www.sportflight.com/cgi-bin/uploader.pl?action=view&epoch=1010310005

http://www.sportflight.com/cgi-bin/uploader.pl?action=view&epoch=1010310466



vic syracuse said:
In the 2 Kitfoxes I built with Rotax 912's, the heat was just like on your car... there was another "radiator" in the cockpit with a fan that would blow air over it to heat the cockpit. The temp was controlled with the same type of valve used in auto's: an inline water valve with a cockpit push-pull cable. I put another cockpit-controllable flap over the outside radiator, much like we do with the oil coolers on our air-cooled engines. The heat was wonderfully pleanty, and no CO threats. And for the naysayers worried about coolant leaks, I never saw any.

Vic
Click to expand...
 
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Rick, that's why I put the flipper valve over the external radiator. Without it, the internal heater would not work very well. Actually, you can even watch the engine temp drop when you turn on the heater, as you are really just adding more cooling capacity. RV-12 drivers may have to do the same.

Vic
 
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