Air intake vent tape
Moderators: Rick, Lance Murray
- Rich
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 4608
- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:40 pm
- First Name: Rich
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N40XE
- Airports: S39 Prineville OR
- Has thanked: 145 times
- Been thanked: 1187 times
Air intake vent tape
The taping approach to silent the front vent noise is mentioned in various locations, but I did something that may be a little different. I taped the upper vent (to allow rain/melt water draining) using glider tape. I need to make a cutout to stick behind the glider tape as it isn't fully opaque:
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
- Steve
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 1973
- Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 1:23 am
- First Name: Steve
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N432SC
- Airports: 1T7
- Has thanked: 85 times
- Been thanked: 504 times
Re: Air intake vent tape
Rich: The experiments my son and I did years ago showed that taping the upper half gave the best noise reduction and actually increased the airflow…
- Derek
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:07 am
- First Name: Derek
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: CGPDN
- Airports: CYTZ
- Has thanked: 18 times
- Been thanked: 19 times
Re: Air intake vent tape
Neat trick, thanks for sharing! Rich, let us know if you second Steve’s opinion that you get less noise and more airflow.
- waynemcc999
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 568
- Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2014 3:38 pm
- First Name: Wayne
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N211WP
- Airports: KSBA
- Has thanked: 1517 times
- Been thanked: 412 times
Re: Air intake vent tape
My few of my data points on vent tape:
(1) before the Brett nose gear fin, I taped the bottom NACA vents, did some measurements, and liked the results.
(2) after the Brett fin, I had a noticeable (but not terrible) increase in whine from the pilot vent.
(3) I moved the glider tape on the pilot side to the upper vent... the whine went away but the airflow went WAY down.
(4) I'm now back with the glider tape on both bottom vents.
Wayne
(1) before the Brett nose gear fin, I taped the bottom NACA vents, did some measurements, and liked the results.
(2) after the Brett fin, I had a noticeable (but not terrible) increase in whine from the pilot vent.
(3) I moved the glider tape on the pilot side to the upper vent... the whine went away but the airflow went WAY down.
(4) I'm now back with the glider tape on both bottom vents.
Wayne
Wayne McClelland
PPL/IR, 2008 Diamond Star DA40-XLS 40.922, KSBA
Photo logs of PilotsNPaws | Flying Doctors | Angel Flight | YouTube @GeezerGeekPilot
PPL/IR, 2008 Diamond Star DA40-XLS 40.922, KSBA
Photo logs of PilotsNPaws | Flying Doctors | Angel Flight | YouTube @GeezerGeekPilot
- Rich
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 4608
- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:40 pm
- First Name: Rich
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N40XE
- Airports: S39 Prineville OR
- Has thanked: 145 times
- Been thanked: 1187 times
Re: Air intake vent tape
I can't give a comparison between upper and lower. I could see it being more efficient because the lower section aligns nicely with the curved shape within. You can confirm this yourself by reaching in toward the rear. I figure that would produce a less turbulent airflow.
The result is definitely satisfactory with respect to noise and the amount of air coming in. I just need to tweak the cosmetics a bit. It's worth noting that I have the nose gear fin.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
- Rich
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 4608
- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:40 pm
- First Name: Rich
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N40XE
- Airports: S39 Prineville OR
- Has thanked: 145 times
- Been thanked: 1187 times
Re: Air intake vent tape
BTW, it might make a difference in what type of panel vents you have. I have the rectangular plastic vents.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
- chili4way
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2018 10:51 pm
- First Name: Paul
- Aircraft Type: DA40NG
- Aircraft Registration: N718NG
- Airports: KADS
- Has thanked: 1063 times
- Been thanked: 483 times
Re: Air intake vent tape
Three NACA inlet treatments: (L-R)
- 2022 DA40NG showing the new lower-only NACA inlet (no upper inlet)
- 2019 DA40NG with the classic two-port NACA inlet
- 2018 DA40NG using sailplane tape to block the lower port
- Steve
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 1973
- Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 1:23 am
- First Name: Steve
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N432SC
- Airports: 1T7
- Has thanked: 85 times
- Been thanked: 504 times
Re: Air intake vent tape
Diamond should acknowledge the research and development work done on this forum leading to the improved vent design…
- Chris
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 938
- Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:34 am
- First Name: Chris
- Aircraft Type: DA42NG
- Aircraft Registration: N449TS
- Airports: KHIO
- Has thanked: 1066 times
- Been thanked: 484 times
- Boatguy
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 1866
- Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:48 am
- First Name: Russ
- Aircraft Type: DA62
- Aircraft Registration: N962M
- Airports: KSTS
- Has thanked: 1366 times
- Been thanked: 1196 times
Re: Air intake vent tape
I think they implicitly did acknowledge it as shown by the 2022 plane which has no upper vent. They just didn't give credit.