Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Ventilation
Getting fresh air into an RV4 judging by some of the posts on Vansairforce appears quite challenging. I ordered the newish vent design from VANS. It costs $18 for two of them. I thought I would put a picture here because, hopefully, it is easier to understand than the poor picture on the VANS website.In the first picture the hole and backing plate is installed together with the brackets that support the door. In the second the door is installed and the retaining / friction bolt dropped into place.
It will be a couple of years before I can give you a test report but it looks as though it should provide a hurricane if extended into the airstream.
Here it is max open at 45 deg. It closes flush, and I hope that continues in use. The friction can be adjusted once it is 100% installed.
Postscript 8th March '09
The vents are extremely effective. I strongly recommend this as a solution to getting copious quantities of air into a -4. There is a picture of the front vent if you click here. Its below the fuse pad.
On the ground I have a system for locking the canopy partially open to save misting up in winter and overheating in summer. If you go to the post here it is referred to as the taxi position.
In fact I never use it for long enough to start taxiing but then I fly out of a small private strip. Perhaps it would be more useful on a hot day in Arizona!
