Do airplanes have heaters? Especially the smaller airplanes or non-jets?

Question

Sounds silly but just wondering!! I obviuosly am clueless when it comes to airplanes. I believe the smaller airplanes like bi-planes or sesnas.

Answer 1

Everyone is right except skytrain who tried to correct cropguy.

Rick Nelson's fatal DC3 crash was a result of a faulty combustion cabin heater. It was in the cabin and required the pilot or copilot to light it.

Look it up yourself.

Answer 2

Yes they do - and its not a silly question.

Single engine aircraft duct hot air into the cockpit from heater muffs around the exhaust.

Larger aircraft use a variety of methods to heat the cabins.

Cropguy - I must correct you on the heaters used in the C47/DC3.  These aircraft used heat exchangers on the engine exhaust.  The combustion heaters that you speak of were used on Lockheed aircraft that I have flown as an engineer. i.e. Neptune SP2H etc.

These heaters were used for leading edge de-ice as well as internan heating.

But you had to be near freezing to death before you started them up, that were that scarrrrry.

Answer 3

yes

Answer 4

It's not a silly question at all. I love to hear any questions about airplanes. They do have heaters. Bi-planes and Cessnas all have heaters. Bigger planes and jets also have.

Answer 5

All small airplanes have a heater of some sort.  The temperature drop that comes with an increase in altitude is substantial and could not be tolerated without heat to warm your body in the upper flight levels.  Most smaller non pressurized airplanes ( most of your Cessna's, Piper's, Mooney's etc ) use a heat exchanger that ducts the engines hot exhaust gas through it.  Then air from a fan is circulated around and over the heat exchanger and then the warm air is ducted to the vents around the interior of the plane.  Some older aircraft such as the DC-3 or C-47, early models of transport class aircraft had a combustion heater that actually used the aircraft engine fuel that it sucked from the tanks to fire it and heat the aircraft.  When you step up to the pressurized turbine aircraft either turbo-props or jets, you have the ability to control or govern hot bleed air released from the turbine engine to again heat a heat exchanger and ultimately the aircraft cabin.

Answer 6

Open-cockpit airplanes do not have heaters.  Most biplanes are open-cockpit airplanes, and do not have heaters.  This is the origin of the "Aviator Jacket."  There are some incorrect answers above on this detail.

Light piston engine airplanes with enclosed cabins do have heaters.  In some cases the cabin heat system is somewhat primitive, but it's there.