After several hours of open cockpit cross country flying, many of them November thru February, starting from Minnesota, I’ve learned a few tricks to keep warm. I installed my favorite in our Carbon Cub demo, heated clothing. It’s a simple upgrade that can save the day.
First you need to choose your apparel. All you really need is a heated vest as a base layer and your set. I have used and tested three brands; Gerbing’s, Aerostich and BMW motorcycle accessory. I prefer the first two because they have a rheostat temperature control which helps avoid the kiss of death in cold temps, sweating.
Once you have your clothing picked out its time to get power set up in your bird. Since I ride a BMW motorcycle I always order the heated clothing with the BMW style plug in (male). Therefore I equip the airplane with p/n PSO-008 (female) made by Powerlet Products. On our airplane I placed the plug under the panel on the left hand side. You want to also put an inline fuse between the powerlet and buss. A 10A fuse is sufficient. You’re now a very warm winter Cub pilot!
Our interior shop is currently working on setting up heated seats, if it works, I’ll be sure to report the details.
If you have any questions about the clothing install feel free to contact me.

Ben Redman, RARE Aircraft Ltd. www.rareaircraft.com