Heater core fittings, size ?

[War Eagle]

Hi Kevin
I have an automotive type flow valve mounted on the engine side of the firewall with a cable/ push pull knob on the panel. This allows you to adjust the water flow and control the heat much better than a ground adjustable valve. I am not being a smart ass here but maybe in Sask you just open it up in October and shut off next May!!!(sorry).
Cheers
Don

I also installed an automotive valve and used a push/pull cable to operate it from the panel. It has been working well for me.

The operating knob is shown as the round one to the right of the throttle. This picture is before the labels were put on.

[Twister]

This might be slightly off-topic, but I figured I'd might as well tap into a current discussion.

I'm in the process of purchasing a Kitfox 4-1200. The seller says the heater is "not too hot." Any ideas about how to set it up for fall/winter flying, or am I stuck with down jackets and chemical foot-warmers?

[cap01]

Down jackets and foot warmers in Southern California ? On mine the fan doesn't blow enough to get any heat to the pilots side . Stopping the drafts of cold air that come from all over the cabin does help a little . Some have installed shutters on the cooler

[Av8r3400]

I'm in the process of purchasing a Kitfox 4-1200. The seller says the heater is "not too hot." Any ideas about how to set it up for fall/winter flying, or am I stuck with down jackets and chemical foot-warmers?

Look at the thermostat housings offered by Highwing LLC.

A buddy has one of these. They work awesome and help stabilize the coolant temps for heat and cooling of the engine. I plan on getting one of these for my plane, too.

I'm sure it gets cold in so-cal. Maybe down to a frigid +50° at night...

[Twister]

Down jackets and foot warmers in Southern California ? On mine the fan doesn't blow enough to get any heat to the pilots side . Stopping the drafts of cold air that come from all over the cabin does help a little . Some have installed shutters on the cooler

I like to travel, often farther north (to Alaska, I hope), and we like to travel in the fall and early winter in the Lower 48, at altitude.

[HighWing]

My current Model IV has the heater that came with the original kit, though I mounted it according to the instructions that came with a Series 6 I helped with. It seems to work fine, but I have yet to fly in real cold temps like those some have mentioned. I learned some things from my first Model IV when I installed a home brew heater that was fed by ram air. That heater had one chance to warm the air and if really cold outside, it had to transfer a lot of heat on one pass. Our fan heaters will add a some heat to air that is progressively being warmed as it is recycled throuth the heater core. I would think that if most of the cockpit leaks could be eliminated, it could be relatively toasty inside. In the group of six that would fly together a few years ago, one of the guys had a heater in his Model IV and he would often fly in shirt sleeves while I flew in Down Sleeves.

Another thought on heaters. The owner of the Series 6 I helped with had Alaska on his mind as well and having flown there before, one thing he really wanted was a windshield defroster. We worked that out by building a fiberglass device that captured some of the heated air and deflected it upward through a duct and through a diffuser at the glare shield. In some of our late Spring (flight of six) trips to the Idaho Back Country, one of the most common delays to an early morning start was fog on the windshield that would not stay off when wiped off.
Lowell

[kmach]

I am having a tough time finding an automobile shutoff valve that has 1/2" barbs on it . most are 5/8" .

If anyone has a company name or part number for a cockpit controllable shutoff valve with 1/2" barbs I would very much appreciate the info.

Thanks

[jamesmil]

i used a 3/4 ball valve that has the barbs for pex water pipe on each end, 5/8 heater hose goes right on. i will try to post some pic,s to night. you can buy the valve at lowes or home depot. hope this helps.

[Dorsal]

I am planning on replacing (a silly multi turn type) to one of those ball valves for PEX. Glad to hear that works well, I plan on getting the one with 1/2" barbs.

[jamesmil]

here are some pic,s of the heater valve install and the cockpit control, hope this helps.