I'm looking at http://www.smokingairplanes.com/ as a way to put smoke in my Cessna 170.
Visual Collision Avoidance

Has anyone done this in a 170/180/similar certificated aircraft?
The 3.5 gallon setup would easily go in the baggage compartment but I was thinking of a 1 gallon custom tank on the firewall to keep everything out of the cabin. 1 gallon is a minute and a half about of smoke. You wont do any air shows but will work nicely for aerial identification. 10 pounds hanging off the firewall is something I haven't worked out just yet.

Thoughts on the best way to go about this? (not interested in "this is a stupid mod" comments)

Filling the tank with smoke oil all the time and trying to keep everything clean is a major pain in the ass. IMO flipping a switch for lights is the easiest way to go. Mike

RoughAir wrote:Filling the tank with smoke oil all the time and trying to keep everything clean is a major pain in the ass. IMO flipping a switch for lights is the easiest way to go. Mike

It's no big deal at all. I made a 3 gallon tank that sits in my rear baggage with the pump mounted on top. I fill it with diesel using a facet pump and some hose. Lights have nothing on a smoke system for visual ID. The smoke cloud becomes a huge white ball in the sky that is easily identifiable as opposed to trying to pick out a small plane. That is the primary reason I put mine on, along with being able to lay out a strip on a low pass to see how winds are acting at the surface.

I have nothing for ya as far as certified, but good luck. Every aircraft I own will have a smoke system for the benefits they add

It's amazing how easy it is to pick out a 2 second burst of smoke vs turning on every nav light and strobe you can mount.

Would love to see example 337's getting this approved.

There is a 1969 Cessna 180 for sale on the Controller website with a smoker. I wasn't sure why it would have one. Now I know, thanks! you might give them a call. Merry Christmas!

Chris

I know some Swift guys with show smoke systems, I'm thinking it was probably done on a field approval..

I remember reading an online article years ago about a guy who rigged up a smoke system using compressed air instead of an electric pump. Used a gallon oil container & a manual valve system. Worth googling up maybe?

Field approval. I've got a 1 gal Smoking Airplanes system going into an AA-1B this month. Owner of that airplane had a 3 gal previously installed in his AA5B. I'll let you know how that goes. Previous airplane was N124VU, so if someone wants to pull the 337's on that, you could theoretically get a copy.

My buddy had one on his 180. Not sure about the paperwork side but it was pretty cool.

Spray planes have them. They get washed after each days work anyway. Good collision avoidance. Makes flying pipelines at 200' across crop areas safer.

They make a fill kit that goes through the skin and you have a external fill point! Works great.
1 nozzle does well, 2 works way better!!

I want a smoke system SO badly... working on how to mount it in a C185 with extended baggage... I have pulled a few of the 337's .. PM if you want a copy. (I'm still waiting to receive them)

It might be easier on the approval to install a 1 gallon tank on the firewall vs so far aft and having flammable liquid in the cabin.

Bagarre wrote:It might be easier on the approval to install a 1 gallon tank on the firewall vs so far aft and having flammable liquid in the cabin.

It's typical for smoke tanks to sit behind the firewall (cabin side). My Pitts is certified and the six gallon tank is placed between the front pax feet. The flammable liquid to worry about isn't the smoke oil.

RT

Bagarre wrote:It might be easier on the approval to install a 1 gallon tank on the firewall vs so far aft and having flammable liquid in the cabin.

Even the 1 gal kit is pretty bulky for a FWF mounting. I'm modding the kit by using Alu hardline instead of hose, and AN fittings instead of barb. Should be close to zero maintenance.

WorkingWarbirds wrote:

Bagarre wrote:It might be easier on the approval to install a 1 gallon tank on the firewall vs so far aft and having flammable liquid in the cabin.

Even the 1 gal kit is pretty bulky for a FWF mounting. I'm modding the kit by using Alu hardline instead of hose, and AN fittings instead of barb. Should be close to zero maintenance.

The hard lines are a very good idea.
What airplane are you putting it in?

I haven't put much serious thought into this yet but a 1 gallon would be a tank 10"x10"x2.5" or 8"x8"x6".
..about the size of a second battery box on the firewall.

Would like to hear more about your setup.

The kit we used was by Smoking Airplanes LLC. http://www.smokingairplanes.com

They don't list the 1 gallon tank, but you can order it. It's a small square, I would guess 10x10x10, but it's not in front of me right now. Field approval is done now, it went into a Grumman AA1B with an O-320. I used 3/8" OD 2024-0 tubing, -6 AN bulkhead fittings throughout, and an Andair aluminum check valve in place of the plastic one provided by the kit.

The next one I do, I'd probably exclude a lot of stuff from their kit, I really just want their pump, reservoir and nozzle. The rest I pretty much replaced or would replace if I could. Nice simple system, but they send a lot of cheap electronic parts when I'd just as soon use higher quality. Still, all told, installation was pretty quick, and total weight penalty with oil is only 20.5lbs.