wrote:
JPAviation wrote:
: The 2004 Toyota Prius hybrid car has a Denso electrically powered air
: conditioning compressor that apparently does not need to be mounted on the
: engine. This offers the possibility of reasonably putting A/C in a homebuilt
: airplane. What comes to mind is one of these systems mounted in the aft
: fuselage (one way to overcome a nose heavy design) with a duct (with a
: retractable scoop) for air for the condensor.

Probably not feasible.

I've occasionally wondered whether a vortex tube wouldn't work for A/C.
No moving parts whatsoever, all you need is airflow into it. The
efficiency is low, and it may require compressed air instead of just
airflow, but it'd be worth a look.

Just google on "vortex tube" for more info. Here's one decent site.

http://www.visi.com/~darus/hilsch/