I actually have seen something similar. I was looking at all the web sites and
specs on the new diesel aircraft engines and one of them is totally air cooled.
It does not have any external radiators for either oil or engine cooling. So
here do you get cabin heat?
It seems there is a lot of pressure on the trucking industry to stop idling the
engines all night for heat or air for the sleeper cabs. A company called
Bergstrom has created Nite Systems (www.nitesystems.com) to solve this problem.
A company called Espar (www.espar.com) actually makes the heaters and can resell
the Bergstrom air conditioners. Their web site shows a lot of the details.
Espar make several small self contained heater systems (i.e. heater, fan and
thermostat) that run off a 12-24 volt battery and uses either gasoline or diesel
for the heaters fuel. The small ones come in a 7K or 13.5K BTU and a thermostat
controls the fan thru four speeds. It is small enough to fit under a seat in a
truck and it weight about 6 lbs. The 7k unit is a small tube about 4.5" square
and 12" long that pulls air in one side and out the other end. Looks great to
warm a plane before the engine is started. Would be connected to the engine
fuel tank and with diesel an option, would be OK for the new DeltaHawk style
engines. The only question is how well it performs at altitude for full cabin
in-flight heating. But it looks great for a home built - one set of wires to
the battery and a connection to the fuel tank. Done.
They also have a low BTU (about 3,000) air conditioner that runs all night long
on a battery pack. The battery pack is about 130 lbs and too heavy for a plane,
but the air conditioner draw is low, runs on 12 volts and is totally self
contained. With only 3K BTU, I can see it used for pre-cooling a plane in a
hanger before starting the engine using an external plug and then holding the
cabin temp until altitude. It runs about 350 watts or 30 amps on a 12 volt
system. No problem for a modern alternator. Again small and compact - weights
about 70 lbs. The Espar web site shows entire air hander in a small tower that
would fit behind a seat.

Never got past the initial look since this is for a dream plane that most
likely will never get built.
But I always wondered if it would work.


Mike
(Just dreaming)


JPAviation wrote:

Hi,
Here is a new design challenge for those of you with homebuilts with all the
bells and whistles.

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.

For some details go to:

http://www.denso.co.jp/motorshow/200...duct_electric/

Fly safe, have fun, be cool,
Jim Payne