Fresh air and "cooling" on the ground. Last updated | |
My SR22 has so much window area that is often best described as a flying greenhouse - it gets HOT in there in the summer.
A fellow Cirrus owner, Bill Dobson, posted his solution on the public forum at the COPA web site. COPA stands for Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association and their main web site is located at http://www.cirruspilots.org. His idea was simple, attach fans to the two front-seat eyeball vents to blow outside air into the cabin. (The prop-blast does not direct outside air into the cabin-vent air intakes.) Building on Bill's idea I made a similar cooling system. The differences are...
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Bill's | Mine |
Powered by a solar panel. Very small fans. Usable while plane is parked engine off. | Powered from the plane's 12 V accessory outlet. Small fans (3-1/8 inch square, 300 mA). Only to be used on the ground with the engine running. |
The first step was scrounging some fans. That was easy. I just took them off the power supplies of computers going to the big bit bucket in the sky. Then, with the very pivotal help of a machinest friend, two acrylic boxes were manufactured to each hold a fan and to attach to an eyeball vent. | |
![]() | ![]() The tube on the left side of the image has a 1-inch I.D. and slides nicely over the eyeball tube (some tape or felt may be needed to make it a snug fit). |
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OK, here's a photo of the "rough-in" of the fan-box assembly. The wiring will have to be cleaned-up. Remember, the intent is to use the fans between engine start and takeoff clearance. At clearance time they will be unplugged and removed! | ![]() |
As soon as I can, I'll add further installation photographs showing the wiring and connectors (including a fused cigar-lighter plug). |