[Low n Slow]

The ventilation of the flying -4 we bought may have been ok for the Seattle area where it was built, but the cockpit was like an oven during the summer in the southwest.

We added a NACA duct which helped, but I also started looking into portable air conditioning systems. We thought the prices of the portables pretty high so my partner was considering building one when I found this cooling system on the web.

It includes a 22 quart cooler filled with ice and a small amount of water that’s pumped thru baffles in a rubber bladder normally worn like a poncho. The pump pulls a little over 3 amps on startup then runs continuously at about 2 amps. I mounted the vest by draping it over a 7/8 diameter PVC pipe so the circulation wouldn’t be pinched off when leaning against it, then tie-wrapped the pipe to the roll bar. To keep it out of the sun I added a thin seat cover installed with a smaller diameter tube also attached to the PVC pipe with tie wraps.

I usually fill the cooler with ice packs and a few frozen bottles of water so the water level doesn’t increase as they melt. The seatback cools a relatively large surface area and really helps both on the ground or while flying in warm air at lower elevations. The system was $144 shipped across the country. I found another company that makes a unit specifically made for a seatback, but they wanted $400.

http://www.jenkinscomfort.com/Serpentine Bladder.htm

He also sells on eBay;

 

[Greg Arehart]

Cool!

Approximately what's the total weight of your system?

greg

 

[hecilopter]

H20

I usually fill the cooler with ice packs and a few frozen bottles of water so the water level doesn?t increase as they melt.

Water actually expands as it freezes (thus ruptured plumbing in the winter when the pipes freeze). Melting ice should LOWER the water level, not raise it.

 

[Noah]

I've often thought about building or adapting a system like this. Only I would have cooling pipes running along regions of the skin where blood flow is highest, so that blood flow throughout the body can enhance cooling. Not sure exactly where the best places are, but the head and neck and armpits seem like they would be very effective places to locate cooling tubes. Of course you'd have to make sure that you wouldn't get an ice cream headache .

 

[BikePilot]

Cool idea. These are gaining popularity with motorcyclest as well. You can also get heated vests (they use about 70wts on high) which are amazingly warm if you need a bit of extra warmth for cold weather flying