akflyer

Here is the cabin heat muff I have been using on my Avid. Even at -15 it keeps it warm enough to fly without gloves on.

U picked up a cheap piece of aluminum at the local hardware store along with some rope gasket material that is used to seal off the doors in a wood fireplace. Cut the aluminum to the length and width you will need with a little extra on the length so you can wrap it around the muffler with the rope gasket in place. They also sell an adhesive for putting the gasket material on. I wrapped the gasket around the muffler and used the sealant and one wrap of safety wire to hold it in place till the glue dried. You will need to fabricate 2 flanges from the scrap aluminum for your hoses. I used a wood dowel that was the right OD for the SCAT hose and wrapped it around the dowel and drilled a few holes for rivets. Then I slipped it off the dowel and pop riveted it up the sides. I cut slits in one end and bent some tabs out. I located the areas I would need to put the nozzles on for the hose and cut them out in the shroud, then slipped in the nozzle in place from the inside, ran some sealant around it and riveted it in place with a few pop rivets. Next you wrap the new muff in place and hold it with tape or a couple hose clamps and drill arcoss the seam for the rivets. A few rivets and you have 90% of the fabrication complete. A couple runs of SCAT hose and your install is complete. On my bird, I picked up a new heat control box off ebay that was for a super cub. No one else bid on it so I got it for 15 bucks shipped! I mounted it on the fire wall and ran a lawn mower throttle cable to it for the heater control (just like the big boys, it will either put the heat in the cock pit or dump it over board). On Wagonmasters plane we just ran the hose into the cockpit with out any controls cause he wanted heat on full time in the winter anyway. I will see if I can get some better pics when I pull the cowling off later today or tomorrow.

After a few flights at -15 or colder, I saw some muffler wrap in the performance section of the local auto parts store. It is a fiber glass wrap with a foil face on it. It is a little spendy, but the package was enough to do 3 planes and probably enough left over to do one or two more. I wrapped the heat muff with the insulation to keep the cold wind off the aluminum shroud and temp went up DRASTICALLY so I figured the money was well worth it!

Barack Obama was visiting a primary school and he visited one of theclasses. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words andtheir meanings. The teacher asked the president if he would like to leadthe discussion on the word 'tragedy'. So our illustrious president askedthe class for an example of a 'tragedy'.


One little boy stood up and offered: "If my best friend, who lives on afarm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him,that would be a tragedy.""No,' said Obama, 'that would be an accident."

A little girl raised her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children droveover a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy.""I'm afraid not,' explained Obama.'That's what we would call great loss."

The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Obama searched the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example ofa tragedy?"

Finally, at the back of the room, Little Johnny raised his hand. In aquiet voice he said: "If the plane carrying you and Mrs. Obama was struckby a 'friendly fire' missile and blown to smithereens, that would be atragedy.""Fantastic!' exclaimed Obama. 'That's right. And can you tell me why thatwould be tragedy?"

"Well,' says Johnny, 'It has to be a tragedy,because it sure as hell wouldn't be a great loss...and you can bet your ass it's probably not an accident either."

To all those who have served, are now serving or will in the future a heart felt thank you! Without your sacrifices I would not have and enjoy the freedoms I do today.


<to all the fallen