REFLECTOR: Cabin Heating

[Dave Black]

Scott,

> I think the cabin can be heated with the oil cooler but the it requires a
> tight cabin.

Actually it won't have to be as tight as is required for the standard Nose
Cooler system.

Remember that with the standard system, ALL air starts out at OAT°. The
hottest you could ever hope to get your cabin is the temperature of the air as
it leaves the cooler. Obviously, it's affected not only by OAT°, but by air
flow, oil flow, oil temperature, and cooler efficiency. That's all the hotter
it could be even if you eliminated every leak and all thermal loss. I'd be
surprised if the air coming out of the oil cooler could be much greater than
OAT° + 60°f. (I haven't tested this, but will when my bird flies).

If you put your cooler inside the cabin -- even a leaky cabin -- the same air
can be heated more than once. Each trip through, it gets a little warmer --
right up until it reaches the theoretical maximum of the oil temperature. Of
course cabin air leaks and thermal loss through the windows and even the
fuselage will prevent the CAT° from nearing the oil temperature. But unless
you have air blowing through the cabin so fast each molecule cannot be heated
more than once, the interior cooler will heat the cabin better than the nose
cooler. 

Given your description of leaks you've already filled, I'm almost certain an
interior cooler would be capable of providing more heat than you could
possibly desire. 

Dave Black
Shortwing RG