We also struggled
with the decision on whether or not to install an air conditioner in our
airplane even though it’s hot in the South at least 6 months of the year
and very humid. We grew up in Arizona
but the humidity makes the Gulf coast worst. Still, we didn’t want
to add weight, more time to completion, costs, any drag (air scoop), hang a
compressor on the engine, or jam anything else behind the instrument panel.
When it’s
hot, why not just sweat and take the heat on climb out until getting to cool
altitudes and through descent and landing? Then we thought, well, about half
our missions will probably be low altitude local flights for fun, practice,
touring, or take off and landing practice. And, with the Legacy’s
bubble canopy, the “green house effect” will be brutal. We’d
probably usually not fly locally in the summers rather than suffer under those
conditions. Finally, we asked ourselves, why would we entertain building
a quarter million dollar airplane without air conditioning when we wouldn’t
even imagine buying a $500 junk yard car to drive without an AC…?
So, we decided
to install an air conditioner in our Legacy. We looked at various systems
offered over the years and never found one we liked because of weak performance,
air scoops and still lots of work to integrate into the airplane. And, if
you have to do all the system integration work why buy a kit from someone when
you can get the basic components needed online for half the price or less (plus
a lot of work/time)? We still wanted to eliminate or minimize the down
side of having an aircraft AC so we knew we’d have to tackle another
development effort.
To speed things
along with expert help, we partnered with Flightline AC, a leader in experimental
aircraft air conditioning, and developed the Starflight Flightline Air Conditioning
System that will make our Legacy's cockpit cool and comfortable on even the
hottest days. This high performance light weight system (43 lbs) fits totally
behind the seats – there’s no P-51 air scoop to slow you down and
ruin the Legacy's beautiful lines, no engine driven compressor with brackets
and cowling mod's, and no competition for space behind your instrument panel.
Yet, arctic cool air is delivered in high volumes right in front of the pilot
and passenger. In the winter, the system removes exhaled moisture from
the air and prevents annoying condensation on the canopy. And, should we have a
mission where we need additional payload capability, we can remove the entire
system in less than 5 minutes! This system really eliminates many negatives
of having an aircraft AC system.
After many months
of development work, here are a few photos of the system in our Legacy under
construction. In testing, our hangar was at 90 deg F and we were getting
50 deg F high velocity air out of the six eyeball vents! We’ll be
offering this easy to install, “behind the seat” system for sale
soon. Anyone that’s interested should check out our website later
this week (or maybe after Oshkosh)
and/or Flightline AC’s website. If you’ll be at Oshkosh, stop by
Flightline AC’s booth for more information. We should have a price
set in time for Oshkosh.
Fly safe and
cool,
Valin Thorn
Legacy
Houston, Texas USA
http://www.starflight.aero/legacy
Starflight, Inc.
1702 Emerald Lake Ct,
Houston, TX 77062
281.486.4663
http://www.starflight.aero/legacy
