KFIV cabin heat

[jrthomas]

I'm in the late stage of building a mod IV with a 912 Rotax.Has anyone found a good cabinheat for this model? I'm located in NorthCarolina where the winters are mild but a little heat would be nice.I would prefer a muffler type shroud but there's very little space between the muffler and the engine mount.

[Cwehner]

This was a kit we got for our KFIV many years ago. We are in the finishing stages as weel and it has since been conected with T's to the water lines with a valve to close the flow in the summer. I'll try and figure out where we got the kit but you might just call Kitfox and ask them if they have it available.

Chris
Tulsa, OK
Kitfox IV, 912

[jonbakerok]

I've got the kit Chris it talking about. Since I'm using a Jabiru, I won't need it. I'll post it in the classifieds if you want to take a look.

[Slyfox]

I live in Washington state. The temps get down close to 0 on occation. This is what I do. I take an oil funnel and strap in on the back of the radiator, I use the right side, that's where the water hits first and the exhaust is on the left side, just makes sense. Take some scat hose, about 1.5inch and pop rivet the hose on the end of the funnel and then run the hose to an opening into the cockpit, (I have grove gear, so I use the old opening for the bungies)than if needed slip a 90 pvc connection to that to direct the heat at your feet. You might need to open the opening on the funnel. I fly this way down to 15 degrees. After that, it's just to cold and I wait for better days. If that isn't enough, than get a motorcycle heat vest and use that in conjunction with the radiator heat.
Now you're asking, what about CO emissions? I put a CO meter in the plane and it has never showed any. As long as you put tape on the front side of the radiator and monitor for 180 head temps, you will have a nice warm influx of air into the cockpit. Enjoy, because it's cheap and no weight gain. If you go the route of the complex set up for water radiator and fan. Well, it's just plain nuts in my book. I take this set up off every spring and put it on every fall, takes minutes and adds virtually nothing in weight.

[jrthomas]

Thanks for all of your suggestion.I am aware of the heater cores available.They seem to work very well but a muffler shroud seemed like the most simple.I just wasn't sure which shroud would fit into a close space next to the engine mount. The Rans shroud sounds good and Zenith offers a nice looking one too.I need to see one in person and get some measurments.I really liked ALLBEE's idea of a funnel behind the radiator.Sounds so obvious,I may give it a try.If it doesn't work I'll try something else.Thanks for all the good ideas.Keep 'im comin'

[Bryan]

The heater core works very well. Mine works great and if planning on a lot of passengers a second one on the passengers side would be nice. However this all adds weight. The real advantage of this system is that you have good heat all the time. Cold temps in most aircraft you are going to loose heat when coming down, and it takes a long time to get heat from a cold start. If going with this system I would make sure and put in a shutoff valve as mentioned in the earlier thread. This way in the summer you do not fight heat coming out when you do not want it.

[RandyL]

Anyone have a sense for how much the radiator/fan heater system weighs? Are we talking 5 lbs here, or only 1-2 lbs?

Does the Ran's exhaust muff heater described above have any sort of valve to turn it off/on? Can't tell from the pic in the Spruce catalog.

[Cwehner]

Randy, I've got the exact weight written down at my hangar. I'll check it next time I'm up there but I'm almost certain it was 2 pounds or less.

Chris
Tulsa Ok
Kitfox IV, 912

[Slyfox]

I would like to add to this one by saying that having a motorcycle heat vest is very nice. This morning I took an early flight, 36degrees out, I have no more heat off the radiator, took it off about a week ago. I wore my vest, nice!!! recommend you buy one. If you have a mrs's make sure and get her one also. One bit of advice, don't hook it straight to the battery, go to the master, could blow a fuse when you hook it up.

[jrthomas]

One of the reasons I resisted using a heater core type cabin heat is the issue of getting the 912 to operate in the best temp range.I've been told that by adding a heater core will add to the cooling capacity and the tendancy to run cool.Also it's more complex than the muffle shroud so I'll probably go with the shroud. Thanks for all the responces.