On 11/19/2012 12:04 PM, jglazener wrote:
> I have purchased a pair of Ultimate vents which I plan on installing
> soon. I have seen these put in a number of positions. Does anyone out
> there feel he has the perfect position and orientation for these
> vents sorted out, in terms of effectivity, accessibility, and
> interference? Any particular tips on the installation process?
I have them too, I installed them with the knob pointing towards the
tail. They are working perfectly, the airstream is adjustable to all
positions. I have also installed an overhead vent, which is great if you
also want to have some air blowing on your head. (I'm bald and some air
there keeps my brain from overheating).
> In practice, are these vents by themselves sufficient or are other
> measures needed to ensure minimum / effective ventilation?
Something often overlooked: If you want to let air in, you also have to
let air out somewhere. Otherwise you are just pressurizing the cabin
until it won't allow any more fresh air in, only just enough to make up
for the air leaks, which, depending of the build, might be quite
restrictive.
I have still not solved this to my full satisfaction. I have a hose
running from the D-panel to the tailpost, thinking that the gap between
the rudder and the fin is a low pressure area and would be a low drag
air outlet. To my surprise, with the overhead and ultimate vents closed,
it actually blows air into the cockpit. And no, I have no idea where
that air is leaving again. I have a lockpin in the middle of the door (a
MUST if you want to prevent the doors from bulging out during flight and
leaking out massive amounts of turbulent air in the low pressure area
above the wing roots) and the flap drive slots are sealed by the Fred
Klein's wing root fairings. It might be that my cowl flap is so
efficient that it pulls air through the rudder cable slots so the tunnel
becomes a low pressure area and sucks air out via the inspection holes
and power lever slot. The only other openings are the tail plain slots,
but if the rudder gap is not a low pressure area I wonder why the tail
plain slots would be.
So, you might want to think about an air outlet too. Don't make it too
efficient though: I have these small windows in the door and they are no
fun to open during flight as they actually suck the air out and
underpressurize the cabin. What happens then is that the cockpit sucks
air from all kind of sources, some not too fresh. The cabin fills
quickly with a mixture of hot oil smell, traces of fuel smell, a dash of
exhaust smell, etc. So take care not to underpressurize the cabin.
The ultimate vents always provide fresh air, only during stalls
sometimes some exhaust smell seems to make it into the cockpit.
Frans
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