How do Y'all Handle the Heat?
- Thread starter ARFlyer
- Start date
Captain
Final Approach
After baking our brains here on the island for three years, Mary and I just built a "Cool Room" in our hangar.
Using "guerrilla engineering", and less than $60 in materials, I built a framework of 1" x 2"s that is hinged to one wall (over my workbench area), and wrapped in plastic.
We then lowered it down so that it was suspended horizontally over the hangar floor. We then tied/hung the other end from the rafters with three stout ropes. (Thus, the whole contraption can be pulled up and out of the way, if desired.)
We then add plastic sides, and two air conditioners. (When you own a hotel, you always have lots of working-but-noisy air conditioners laying around.) The cool room will be 78 degrees (and dehumidified) when the rest of the hangar is 110 and 99% humidity.
It is HEAVEN to come back to, post flight. The fridge is, of course, fully stocked with Shiner Bock beer.
Here's an external view:
And an internal view:
Only downside I see is those two AC units are throwing even more heat into the rest of the hanger. Any way to get those through a wall to vent outside and save a few degrees in the rest of the hanger?
comanchepilot
En-Route
either that or simply plan a take off in more normal conditions with 25" of MP and see how the airplane climbs and flies -
HerrGruyere
Line Up and Wait
Lately we fly with the windows open, which is pretty awesome. Otherwise, I dress lightly and drink water.
denverpilot
Tied Down
Jaybird180
Final Approach
Jay- What's you've got there is a positive-pressure dust-free clean room
Captain
Final Approach
Jay- What's you've got there is a positive-pressure dust-free clean room
No, it's not positive pressure.
A window AC doesn't add any air to the room. Every cubic foot of air it blows into the room comes from that room. It wouldn't work if it added air to the room as the back pressure would stop the airflow.
Captain
Final Approach
DA on the ground today at KAPA in Denver at the hottest part of the day, corrected for our 29.96 pressure today...
Was higher than Leadville on a standard day.
One of the photo folks at KBJC said one of the air tankers was accidentally overloaded for the DA and had to dump out a huge amount of retardant on the ramp.
They flooded the ramp with water to try to keep it from sticking too badly, and then he left before the hoses and brooms came back out.
What app is that?
danhagan
En-Route
Also leave it open to the maneuvering speed mark for take-off and landing (although it gets noisy).
Jaybird180
Final Approach
If the plastic room were sealed it would be + pressure. But since it leaks at foot level...
It appears the AC units are drawing air from the hangar, not recirc air inside the bubble (yuck).
wabower
Touchdown! Greaser!
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Wayne
I guess the desire to fly is greater than the discomfort, but there is always the carrot of have an ice cold beer after the flight, while sitting in front of your hangar, watching the planes land and talking about how you greased that last one in after everybody had gone home and nary a soul around to oooh and ahhh about your highly-refined pilot skills
FTFY
kimberlyanne546
Final Approach
This is from when I met the Mooney folks:
http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47640&highlight=air
http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47640&highlight=air
Captain
Final Approach
I don't think you're getting it.
A window ac unit DOES NOT ADD air to a room. All the cold air that blows in your face came from the room. All of it. 1 cubic foot out = 1 cubic foot in. The airflow is not even connected to the outside.
ergo, his tent is not positive pressure...with or without sealing the tarp to the floor.
IF an AC WERE blowing outside air into the space then it wouldn't work in normal applications where the room is more or less sealed. The back pressure would prevent the outside air from coming in...or, more practically, severely limit the airflow and that is inefficient and would be poor design.
Thankfully, that is not how it works. As I said, in real life the cool air blowing out of the unit is the exact same air that the unit pulls from the room. No positive pressure...and that's good as it wouldn't work otherwise.
denverpilot
Tied Down
Sporty's E6B.
Captain
Final Approach
ZeroPapaGolf
Line Up and Wait
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ZeroPapaGolf
Window units suck air in right below where it blows it out. You guys do know there's a filter to clean in there, don't you?!
Skylane81E
Final Approach
Window units at our last apartment could be selected between inside and outside air. I think the one in the garage is the same but I really haven't played with that one.
Jay Honeck
Touchdown! Greaser!
We're still playing with that. It's a long run to the door, and cutting into the wall is out of the question. (We're renting the hangar.)
I'm not sure it matters much, when the rest of the hangar is already 110 degrees.
Jay Honeck
Touchdown! Greaser!
Actually, it sucks the plastic sides in.
At first, this confused us -- but it makes perfect sense when you think about it. The units are sucking all the air in from inside the room -- and blowing cooled air back in.
BUT, it's also blowing a portion of the total OUT, as hot air. So, it's sucking more out than it's putting in.
In your home, you don't notice this -- but when the walls are 3 mil plastic, it's quite pronounced. We had to tape the sides to the floor.
Jay Honeck
Touchdown! Greaser!
What's funny is that we built a similar room in our hangar in Iowa -- but it was for HEAT.
In the winter, we pointed a kerosene torpedo heater into the thing, and hoped that we didn't die of asphyxiation before we froze to death.
Did I ever mention that we love living on our winter-free island South of Texas?
In the winter, we pointed a kerosene torpedo heater into the thing, and hoped that we didn't die of asphyxiation before we froze to death.
Did I ever mention that we love living on our winter-free island South of Texas?