REFLECTOR: Suprise in my duct

[Pat Shea]

Chris Martin brought up the need for drain holes to
prevent water from getting trapped in the ducts a
while ago. I did some high speed taxing in heavy rain
with my plane (no upholstery) to check for leaks and
look for any water accumulation. It turns out the nose
wheel on an RG throws up A LOT of water that goes into
the keel as well as the front duct openings. Once back
in the hangar, I lifted the nose of the plane and
literally cups of water came out of the rear duct
openings. Also, I had plenty of water in the keel as
well as some on the cabin floor.

 Once I got over the thought of drilling holes in my
new paint job, I ended up putting drain holes at the
low point in the ducts (2 holes each duct), the low
points in the keel (4 holes), the low point in the
cabin floor (2 holes each side - just in front of rear
seats), the low point between the firewall and gear
bulkhead (2 holes), and the door "pockets" (1 hole
each). In most cases I used the pooled water to
determine where to drill. 

The next step is to consider ways to prevent the water
from getting in. Some will always get in, though, and
I didn't want it getting trapped. I've yet to fly in
heavy rain - I must still be a little nervous from
that taxi experience...

Pat XLRG      

--- Scott Derrick <scott at tnstaafl.net> wrote:


> I had heard of people talking about drain holes in
> the ducts and though 
> yeah, that would be nice....
> 
> It would be more than nice, it should be mandatory! 
> If you don't have 
> them you should make it a priority!
> 
> Any suggestions on how to make the drain holes? 
> I thought of drilling a 1/4"  hole, than flox in a
> thin straw through 
> the hole, then cut off the straw when cured?  Any
> better method?
> 
> Scott

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