Heated Seats?

[KSMooniac]

Has anyone ever seen or heard of heated seats in a certified GA aircraft? I finally have a car with heated seats and they are of course wonderful during the winter, and I'm curious if someone offers an "aircraft grade" heating element that could be added to a Mooney seat on a field approval basis.

[201er]

Has anyone ever seen or heard of heated seats in a certified GA aircraft? I finally have a car with heated seats and they are of course wonderful during the winter, and I'm curious if someone offers an "aircraft grade" heating element that could be added to a Mooney seat on a field approval basis.

For the right price I'll heat your seats for you with my bum

[fantom]

For the right price I'll heat your seats for you with my bum

I wouldn't take that offer, Scott

How about the next best thing to heated seats: http://heatedclothingoutlet.com/pantLiner.shtml

[N601RX]

There are some heated slip on covers available. They would probably be the single largest constant current draw on your plane, so you would need to look at that and make sure your alternator would handle it.

[M016576]

There are some heated slip on covers available. They would probably be the single largest constant current draw on your plane, so you would need to look at that and make sure your alternator would handle it.

[M016576]

Heated seats are typically on a 5 amp CB in a car with a 12V system. Not really that big of a draw.. Put your hand next to a 45w bulb for a little while, it gets toasty quick! I'm actually slightly surprised that some of these interior redo's aren't offering heated seats... Imagine the AMU inflation! If BMW offers them for 1 amu in a sedan, surely an "aviation quality" heated seat could pull in 8 AMUs!!!!... Not a bad profit for 40 bucks worth of wire and an hour or two to install!

[carusoam]

Scott,

It looks like you may have started a succesful weekend job...

You could include some decent foam....

Most Mooneys could use refurbished heated seat foam. Most wives would buy into it +...

+ = whatever else the pilot may need while she has the credit card out...(something like that).

I think I would be a buyer for 2 or 4 seat upgrades...

Best regards,

-a-

[jetdriven]

Installing the seat heaters is one thing, connecting them to the electrical system of your plane is another.

[fantom]

How about some seat cooling for us folks down south?

[1964-M20E]

Installing the seat heaters is one thing, connecting them to the electrical system of your plane is another.

You could always use the power plug and even have one added as a minor alteration specifically for the seats.

However I agree with fantom I need seat coolers.

[KSMooniac]

I'm just spit-ballin' for now, but I think it could be a feasible project. I'm not sure there is enough electrical capacity to run 4 seats in any of our Mooneys, but perhaps the front pair. Obviously there needs to be some sort of pigtail connector to the seats, and a pair of switches or controllers mounted somewhere...perhaps on the seats themselves for simplicity.

I also agree 100% about the need for seat coolers! My parents have a Lexus with that feature blowing AC through perf'd leather and it is WONDERFUL. I can't think of a feasible way to do that in a Mooney... I added sheepskin covers to my seats and that helps a lot in the summer (and winter).

[Awful_Charlie]

It does seem such a shame that the heater hasn't got the guts to keep the aircraft warm when the temps go south outside. I spent a couple of hours at the weekend with -25C outside, and even with the heater flat out, I needed my jacket on for the trip. Crazily the turbo out temperature was over 100C and the intercooler got it down to 36 or so, and I just longed for some of that heat round my toes! Anyone thought of an intercooler in the cabin? (or even a small hot air bleed?)

[KSMooniac]

I think cabin heat in a turbo plane is a challenge b/c so much energy goes into spinning the turbo and compressing the induction charge instead of into a muffler as heat, which is of course scavenged for cabin heat. You might check into a 12V portable ceramic heater that could be plugged in to supplement the mediocre heat output.

My J is OK heat-wise in cruise with the cowl flaps closed, but it can get chilly in the climb! Heated seats would still really help, IMO, as warming the blood in your core really pays off with overall comfort.