My RV has gotten hot enough, parked in the summer sun, to cause the SL30 to experience a heat related com failure. I wondering about reflective canopy covers and their effectiveness on holding down the inside temp. Can other RV flyers comment, recommend solutions.
My Koger sunshade seems to be enough,
in Ohio, to keep the temps in line.
[EDIT] I have a mod to my slider canopy that
locks it with the canopy open a couple of inches.
I carry a lightweight cover and only use
it on very hot sunny days. Every thing is
light tan inside with the exception of my
seats which are black and dark red carpet.
Tom
You're having this problem in Massachuett's? Wow. Are you using any canopy cover at all? Certainly with *no* canopy cover the greenhouse effect on your cockpit can be incredible. Down here in the SE I will either leave my tip-up canopy cracked open or use my Cleveland canopy cover. No problem at all (and I have an SL-30).
As above-Use Koger sun shade and custom fitted lightweight canopy cover.
Also have used the cheap auto relective sun shades from walmart. Have gotten two of them and cut them to fit in such a way that they lay forward on the glareshield and then reach back to just over the tops of the seats.
This way, the entire panel and seats are protected. I use this when I am going to be making short stops such as for breakfast of $100 hamburger.
bakes the panel when my RV6 slider is closed. I use my lightweight canopy cover whenever I leave the ship, even for less than an hour. It heats up quick. If I stay with it, say at an airshow, I leave the canopy open and there has been no issue so far. Of course we still have to deal with the metal parts on the five-point Hooker harness branding us.......
Experience has also shown that the Dynon D10 (first generation) will go black and white and show an "unreliable data" message when too hot.
We never leave our canopies closed outside in the sun at our house - they are always cracked to let the heat out. If we are going to close them up outside - they get their Bruce's covers put on!
My RV has gotten hot enough, parked in the summer sun, to cause the SL30 to experience a heat related com failure. I wondering about reflective canopy covers and their effectiveness on holding down the inside temp. Can other RV flyers comment, recommend solutions.
Looks like you need to leave the canopy open when parked on the ramp. Maybe a solar powered fan to circulate the air.
The dark green/Tan paint also doesn't help....
RV-6A slider. I always put the cover on when I travel and leave the plane outside (almost always). It keeps it cool inside and I have never experienced a problem. I have an SL-30 and an SL-60 but the SL-30 has only been in for a year or less.
The reason that reflective canopy covers (applied inside the aircraft) are not recommended is that they can melt or damage the plexiglass. It's different with cars, since the windshield is made of real glass and has much better thermal tolerance.
When travel is more than over night, the plane goes into a hangar somewhere... I use a cover @ our island property but do leave the canopy slightly open to vent. Always a pretty good breeze on the island, so far no issues.
A fellow AZ RVr had a hole burned into the felt on his panel shade while at a fly in in CA because the plexiglass did the magnifying glass effect in just the right spot. luckily someone saw smoke or it could have been a disaster. After that event, I'm more inclined to break out the light weight cover. Though putting it on in a breeze is sometimes a challenge (and comical to watch).
I use a cover @ our island property but do leave the canopy slightly open to vent. Always a pretty good breeze on the island, so far no issues.
