kentb

kentb

Well Known Member
When a got back to my plane Saturday at Arlington, it was hot inside.
It was so hot..... (how hot was it?) It was so hot that my iPad refused to run!:D

I wanted to leave the canopy uncovered so that people could look at the inside of the plane. Because I didn't want anyone walking way with a 496 or iPad after visiting my plane, I have a side lock. I know that someone would break the canopy and ..., but I don't think that will happen at an airshow.

Now back to the issue. I would like to leave the canopy (tip-up) open enough that air can escape out the back. I have been starting to think about a small chain with a pad lock. Thought that I would ask if anyone has already solved this problem.

Kent
 
Here's how I took care of this on my plane. I have a 12V solar cell in the top of the canopy. It feeds a 4" muffin fan which exhausts through the cabin-air exit just behind the canopy.(You do have a cabin-air exit, don't you?) That way whenever the sun is shining down on the plane and trying to heat it up, there will be a flow of air through it.
 
Hello Kent,
The ability to lock the tip up slightly open would be a nice feature, I have it on my list of things to do.
My plan is to extend the two steel locking latches that bolt to the rear of the tip up bow. Extending the two latches about 1" and adding another locking position would allow the canopy to be locked securely in a slightly open position.
The extensions would need to be bent slightly in the fore direction to prevent interfering with the small entrance hole in the fuselage.

I like the solar powered fan idea, I had something similar on my sailboat that would snap into the cabin vents to keep the air fresh and moving. I have one drawn up that would attach to the NACA duct on the side of the RV. The small plastic housing contains a motor and fan that would push air into the aircraft all powered by a small solar cell.
With the canopy locked slightly open it would resemble a solar chimney and promote a natural flow.
I haven't had time to make a solar vent prototype as of yet but planning it for the future.
 
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I have the canopy latch from Vans (http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...48&browse=airframe&product=canopy-latch)...it works a treat when I want to leave the window ajar when parked (or taxiing for that matter), it's also subtle enough to miss detection.

For security I have (but not installed) the canopy lock from Vans (http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...30-136-48&browse=airframe&product=canopy-lock).

I also have a tonneau cover (from Classic Aero Designs) which is great for hiding stuff away in back.
 
PIN 37 said:
Err no, can you show me what you mean, might be handy here in Oz :):)
Click to expand...

No sense having a cabin air inlet without having an outlet at a low pressure region, same as for the engine. On my L235 I have a narrow slot in the top of the fuselage just behind the canopy. This promotes the flow of air up past my face and head to make me cooler. Something like 50% or more of your body cooling is from your head. The slot has a counter-weighted flap that keeps it closed so that no rain or bugs will enter.
A lot of people think that the air will exit at the cutout in the tail, but that is a place of higher pressure relative to the lower pressure that forms in the cockpit due to the flow over the curved canopy, on my plane about 0.1" below static. This is why in the winter cold air will enter the tail cutout and flow into the cabin if the rear fuselage is not closed off competely, including control runs.
 
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