Aircraft Insulation in the Deuce?

[Snarky]

Has anyone had in experience with the properties of aircraft insulation? I was reading an article on discarded airplane fuselages being ideal for use as arctic research stations. Discarded Airplane Fuselages Resurrected As Mobile Arctic Research Station - Ecofriend

That got me thinking, aircraft, along with being able to stand extreme winds: also stand extreme temperatures. I did a search on materials used to help insulate aircraft and came up with a place you can buy a few. Insulation from Aircraft Spruce

I know people that there are a few people here that are aerospace engineers, pilots, and A&P mechanics. Does anyone know anything about the insulation in aircraft?

It seems like the closed cell vinyl-nitride noise control foam with adhesive backing would be the best choice of material for the deuces cab and hardtop. Are these products superior to their automotive counter parts. Are they worth the price? Are there better product that give more bang for the buck?

 

[rgregj]

Snarky,
We have used the "insulator" from Spruce in our Piper Aztecs. That combined with metalized tape worked wonders for both temperture and noise levels. We covered the entire inner skin of the cabin. Never thought about using it for the deuce, I actually have a spare roll, hmmmmm.. maybe I need to do some "research"

 

[m-35tom]

i have the complete set of patterns for the actic kit for the deuce cab. makes a perfect fit.

 

[avengeusa]

i have the complete set of patterns for the actic kit for the deuce cab. makes a perfect fit.

this could get interesting fast

I need a set of patterns....

 

[jesusgatos]

How much of the cab does the arctic kit insulate? Just the hardtop, or the cab too?

 

[m-35tom]

the patterns i have do all the cab except for the floor and doors, which is an easy area to make. does behind seats, around and on vents, firewall and under cowl. i would love to give these to anyone who really wants them, but it costs some small amount to have material to trace them on and to ship, so i think $20 would be fair?? i have refined them from the original, on an empty cab shell, and made adjustments so they really fit very well.

tom

 

[jesusgatos]

Sure, that sounds more than fair. I don't know how complicated those patterns are, but I'd be willing to make some CAD files (and could generate something more universal like PDF's) that we could share more easily.

 

[SCSG-G4]

Tom,
It sounds fair, now just put it in the classified section, so folks can order it!

 

[wdbtchr]

Tom,
It sounds fair, now just put it in the classified section, so folks can order it!

And give us a holler when you do, I'd like a set.

 

[m-35tom]

as for pdf files, that would be great, but some of these are much larger than anyones printer. for example there are two pieces that do the entire firewall. i will try to get to making some copies this weelend.

tom

 

[jesusgatos]

I wasn't thinking about printable templates, as much as I thought it might be helpful to have a set of simple 2D blueprints that people could take dimensions from. We're just talking about basic geometry, no fancy freeform shapes or anything, right? Maybe it would help to see what your templates look like. Or maybe I'm just over-thinking this. I dunno.

 

[tm america]

printing them to size isnt a problem just print them off your computer .then go to kinkos they can do copies big enough to do them and they can blow it up from your orignal as long as you know how much you need to blow them up.so if you did them to scale it work just fine

 

[cranetruck]

The solution to sound proofing found on the m656/xm757 series, where you ride next to the engine, was a material supported by ridges to create an air space. Works pretty well actually.

 

[ETHOS]

put those templates in the classified, I will order a set

 

[m-35tom]

bjorn, yours may be old and missing all the foam!! the original stuff was about 3/8" thick, self adhesive and had a thin textured coating on the outside. i made mine from the material used for under the mil air mattresses, about 1/2" thick.

 

[m-35tom]

template

this is a pic of the pattern i use. the 3 upper right, times 2, do the back of the cab. the upper left does the air vent, and the lower 4 do the firewall and cowl.

 

[cranetruck]

bjorn, yours may be old and missing all the foam!! the original stuff was about 3/8" thick, self adhesive and had a thin textured coating on the outside. i made mine from the material used for under the mil air mattresses, about 1/2" thick.

Don't think so, an air space is often used for sound proofing, windows, for example and the remaining ridges are very uniform. Ford put a lot of thinking into this vehicle.

Edit: Also, the material you used, is an excellent thermal insulator, here they wanted sound proofing primarily.

 

[Green_gator]

I could go for a set of those templates. Do you have them for the hard top? I have a whole load of the sleeping pads that are going for exactly this purpose and it will save me having to make the templates myself. I am thinking two layers of the pads glued together. They are also getting used as new padding in the seats as I replace all the canvas.

 

[tm america]

bjorn i believe you are right but maybe not for noise redution .rather they might have done that to leave an air gap so it could dry out if it got wet. that way it wouldnt rot the cab out of cuase mildew or mold to form.even thought the air gap would help with sound deadining and would give greater insulating values sort of like thermopane windows o n a house

 

[cranetruck]

bjorn i believe you are right but maybe not for noise redution .rather they might have done that to leave an air gap so it could dry out if it got wet. that way it wouldnt rot the cab out of cuase mildew or mold to form.even thought the air gap would help with sound deadining and would give greater insulating values sort of like thermopane windows o n a house

Hmm... anyway, here is a view of the "textured" surface Tom mentioned. This piece is in excellent condition and I think the air gap is intentional, since very little if any trace of the foam remains. I'll do more research on this, but give the engineers at Ford the benefit of the doubt.
This surface wouldn't normally get wet, if you are thinking about fording or swimming operations.