How To Add Air Conditioning To Your Plane For Less Than 100 Bucks

kimberlyanne546

kimberlyanne546

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Kimberly
Saw this in a hangar today.

They got the cooler for free.

The fans were bought for less than $20 each and are both battery operated. The batteries, as you can see, were simply moved to the top.

Car fronts (5.25" speakers) grills were used to cover the fan blades.

PVC parts for directional control of airflow.

A part from a bicycle pump and a switch for "high" and "low" plugged in that limits the amount of current going to the fans.


And you get this:

6930029575_a015c71345_z.jpg




Just add ice and go!
 
You could also add a small pump and radiator to the setup- to pump the cold water through the radiator and force the air to make a heat exchange as it exits through the duct. Fun idea!
 
Problem is, they are running off batteries, so they would not have enough power to do that.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Problem is, they are running off batteries, so they would not have enough power to do that.
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Add more batteries!!! It's still gonna be cheaper than the one sportys offers- and you could always get a long 12v cig lighter adapter and run the whole thing off the planes alt.
 
Mattl said:
Add more batteries!!! It's still gonna be cheaper than the one sportys offers- and you could always get a long 12v cig lighter adapter and run the whole thing off the planes alt.
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What does Sporty's offer?
 
If you go to OSH you would see the latest portable A/C units. Never mind, you don't like OSH. ;)
 
Geico266 said:
If you go to OSH you would see the latest portable A/C units. Never mind, you don't like OSH. ;)
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No, not true, I just don't have the time and money to go to OSH. I would like to go to one or two POA fly-ins this year, complete more PIC cross countries, and just enjoy aviation. Maybe when I have more money I'll go next year. For now I'd rather spend it on flying....
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
No, not true, I just don't have the time and money to go to OSH. I would like to go to one or two POA fly-ins this year, complete more PIC cross countries, and just enjoy aviation. Maybe when I have more money I'll go next year. For now I'd rather spend it on flying....
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Yep, do more POA flyins. You'll learn a lot. :rolleyes:

;)
 
The problem with these devices is when you travel with family and luggage like over half of my flights are. There is simply no room for it. One way of getting around the heat problem is to fly in the morning and opening the cabin door (or window) on the ground. Flying in the summer afternoons can be unconfortable not only by the heat on the ground but by the turbulence and build-ups. Good window shades or canopy substantially keeps the temps down for when you are getting into the plane. Once you pass over 5,000ft AGL the temps are air condition like.

José
 
Very clever, except for the speaker grilles on the fans. Bet it'd work a lot better with proper fan guards (made for allowing air to flow, not just sound waves).
 
We actually wanted to slow down the flow a bit. It makes the exiting air cooler. Then why not just one fan? We use water/glycol filled bottles chilled down to 0 degrees F, not ice (32F). The two lower volume fans worked better than the single fan without any cover. With two fans we covered a larger surface area cooling the air faster than one fan. We also made it two-speed. On those hot California days without baggage, it's perfect. That's the bulk of the flying we do. For longer trips, it's all altitude.

By slowing down the flow we decreased the temp and made it last longer. The small Mooney cabin cools down rather quickly. It may look dorky but it works and it was super cheap. Your results may vary.
 
callmesven said:
We actually wanted to slow down the flow a bit. It makes the exiting air cooler. Then why not just one fan? We use water/glycol filled bottles chilled down to 0 degrees F, not ice (32F). The two lower volume fans worked better than the single fan without any cover. With two fans we covered a larger surface area cooling the air faster than one fan. We also made it two-speed. On those hot California days without baggage, it's perfect. That's the bulk of the flying we do. For longer trips, it's all altitude.

By slowing down the flow we decreased the temp and made it last longer. The small Mooney cabin cools down rather quickly. It may look dorky but it works and it was super cheap. Your results may vary.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, he's the guy with the hangar! Thanks again, S!
 
On reading the title of this thread I thought maybe somebody had finally figured out a way to power a Hilsch vortex tube from the pressure rise behind a propellor so that cooling air could be directed into the cockpit.

The Hilsch vortex tube is a passive device that is so mechanically simple that there are no moving parts that can break (excepting whatever creates the pressurized air):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube
 
i built mine for less than a $100 and it plugs in to the lighter

photo.JPG

photo (1).JPG
:yesnod:
 
just put some ice in it and a little water in it and your good to go
:D:D:D
 
callmesven said:
We actually wanted to slow down the flow a bit. It makes the exiting air cooler. Then why not just one fan? We use water/glycol filled bottles chilled down to 0 degrees F, not ice (32F). The two lower volume fans worked better than the single fan without any cover. With two fans we covered a larger surface area cooling the air faster than one fan. We also made it two-speed. On those hot California days without baggage, it's perfect. That's the bulk of the flying we do. For longer trips, it's all altitude.

By slowing down the flow we decreased the temp and made it last longer. The small Mooney cabin cools down rather quickly. It may look dorky but it works and it was super cheap. Your results may vary.
Click to expand...
That makes sense- I was thinking along the usual lines (trying to keep the inside of the box cool); not correct in this case.
 
Or you could just get a Grumman, slide the canopy back and have instant air conditioning. No need to sweat.
 
Might there be a way to use dry-ice, even if just to keep the regular ice colder longer? Or would that present an environmental hazard (excessive Co2 in the cockpit).

How about something like a shop-vac hose to move the colder air where you want it?
 
callmesven said:
We actually wanted to slow down the flow a bit. It makes the exiting air cooler. Then why not just one fan? We use water/glycol filled bottles chilled down to 0 degrees F, not ice (32F). The two lower volume fans worked better than the single fan without any cover. With two fans we covered a larger surface area cooling the air faster than one fan. We also made it two-speed. On those hot California days without baggage, it's perfect. That's the bulk of the flying we do. For longer trips, it's all altitude.

By slowing down the flow we decreased the temp and made it last longer. The small Mooney cabin cools down rather quickly. It may look dorky but it works and it was super cheap. Your results may vary.
Click to expand...
Be better to improve conductance/ contact area than slow airflow, but you're in NorCal anyway where you don't need much from AC.
 
JOhnH said:
Might there be a way to use dry-ice, even if just to keep the regular ice colder longer? Or would that present an environmental hazard (excessive Co2 in the cockpit).
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:hairraise::yeahthat::hairraise:Not a good risk to take.
 
earl72 said:
i built mine for less than a $100 and it plugs in to the lighter

View attachment 25326

View attachment 25327
:yesnod:
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Built nicely. This is what I made as well. It's a great way to save $500, although you will just spend it on something else like a new Zulu2 like I did.

My blower tube is a lot taller though so it blows the air over the rear seats; I think the design just depends on the plane you are using it in. I bought a used heater core from a junk yard for $5 and found a small bilge pump on ebay. I only need to run it on the ground before takeoff and turn it off once up to altitude. Then turn back on before the descent. I set my windshield reflector over the top of the cooler to keep the sun off of it. It will hold a cooler full of ice for several hours on a hot day. If you don't have enough room for a return flight with this cooler, you can always empty it out and store some of your baggage inside the cooler for the ride back. It will just be a little warmer for the occupants.
 
MN_Flyer said:
Built nicely. This is what I made as well. It's a great way to save $500, although you will just spend it on something else like a new Zulu2 like I did.

My blower tube is a lot taller though so it blows the air over the rear seats; I think the design just depends on the plane you are using it in. I bought a used heater core from a junk yard for $5 and found a small bilge pump on ebay. I only need to run it on the ground before takeoff and turn it off once up to altitude. Then turn back on before the descent. I set my windshield reflector over the top of the cooler to keep the sun off of it. It will hold a cooler full of ice for several hours on a hot day. If you don't have enough room for a return flight with this cooler, you can always empty it out and store some of your baggage inside the cooler for the ride back. It will just be a little warmer for the occupants.
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My blower tube is taller than your blower tube.

LOL.
 
callmesven said:
I'll pass this comment on to Dave. He'll appreciate it.
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Good deal. Let me know when you and Dave want to get your flying fix and I'll take you both in the 172 while you're working on getting the Mooney back to flight . . . .
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Problem is, they are running off batteries, so they would not have enough power to do that.
Click to expand...
Just get a bigger battery. Without a air/water heat exchanger and pump your "air conditioner" is going to raise the dew point as it cools the air. Might work in the desert but totally useless wherever the humidity goes up with the heat. It might be possible to use a large finned heatsink to transfer heat directly from the air to the ice water while keeping the two separate and that wouldn't require a pump and it's associated energy consumption.
 
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