czechsix
Well Known Member
Has anyone installed a nice quality aluminum air vent in the RV-14? There are several on the market to choose from different suppliers like Steinair, AC Spruce, and now Aerosport Products. Looking at the fuselage kit plans I see there's no SCAT tube connecting the NACA inlet to the eyeball vent on the -14 like there is on my RV-8A...the NACA inlet has a short tube molded into it that flares out and connects directly to the vent assembly. Looking at the offerings from Steinair for example, the 1 1/4" vent (http://www.steinair.com/storedetail.cfm?productid=311) will probably fit, but it's actually a bit smaller than ideal and Steinair says it's made to be mounted in a 2" hole. The Vans supplied bracket on the -14 has a 2.5" hole. The larger vent offered by Steinair (http://www.steinair.com/store.cfm?tlcatid=30) mounts in a 2.75" hole, but it also has a fairly long plenum that doubles as the retaining nut used to mount the vent in the bracket hole. The plenum is designed to connect a 2" SCAT tube, but looking at the RV-14 plans it appears that the plenum is too long and would stick out into the NACA inlet area. Maybe you could cut it off, but this vent might still be too large overall to connect to the NACA inlet assembly.
Then there's other options like the even more expensive vent from Aircraft Spruce (https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/largealumavblack.php). Spruce claims these are direct replacements for the black plastic whisperflo vents provided by Vans. My only concern besides the price is that they appear to offer more limited angular adjustment (25 deg) because the very large vent opening will hit the vent housing before you can move it very far to aim it where you want. This may not be a big deal but it's hard to tell without sitting in the airplane and trying it out. On a hot summer day I want that thing pointed straight at my face...
And then there's the recent announcement from Aerosport Products (http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=132140). They look nice have a good introductory price, but are similar to the smaller vent from Steinair in that they are a bit smaller than ideal (fit in a 2 1/8" hole vs the 2.5" hole provided in the kit).
So...has anybody tried any of these (or something else) and found it to work well?
Thanks,
Then there's other options like the even more expensive vent from Aircraft Spruce (https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/largealumavblack.php). Spruce claims these are direct replacements for the black plastic whisperflo vents provided by Vans. My only concern besides the price is that they appear to offer more limited angular adjustment (25 deg) because the very large vent opening will hit the vent housing before you can move it very far to aim it where you want. This may not be a big deal but it's hard to tell without sitting in the airplane and trying it out. On a hot summer day I want that thing pointed straight at my face...
And then there's the recent announcement from Aerosport Products (http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=132140). They look nice have a good introductory price, but are similar to the smaller vent from Steinair in that they are a bit smaller than ideal (fit in a 2 1/8" hole vs the 2.5" hole provided in the kit).
So...has anybody tried any of these (or something else) and found it to work well?
Thanks,