Sling Pilots Forum

I had a recent cross-country trip from Torrance to Alabama flying at 16,000' with an OAT -12 degrees C. The heater did not come close to keep the cabin warn. Seems most of the cold air was coming from the rear of the airplane. Any advice?

Living in Colorado, this is a constant battle. In the winter months, I usually put a strip of aluminum tape over the oil and coolant radiators to reduce airflow. It helps keep the temperatures up!

The other option would be to install a thermo bob thermostat on the coolant lines, essentially locking in the coolant temp and keeping that cabin heater at a toasty level.

Also, I sealed up a lot of airflow coming from under the seat with painters plastic and tape up the baggage door when I know I’ll be flying in negative temps.

I think in one of Evan's videos (not the instruction ones but the one where he's building) he talks about changing the routing for the hot air from going through the walls of the cockpit to using scat hose, since the cold aluminum walls chilled the air before it even got into the cabin. I think this was mostly for the rear seats, though.

I installed auto seat warmer kits in the two front seats. This process is well documented in the Vans Airforce website. My only comment is that the TAF seats are not easy to work with and you will end up deteriorating the firmness of the seat cushion. The back is easier to work. I ended up installing another inch of cushion under the seat upholstery to deal with this issue. Final result appears to be fine.