Cold weather operations

flyingcheesehead

flyingcheesehead

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
24,256
Location
UQACY, WI
Display Name
Display name:
iMooniac
Thanks for posting this!

I am going to try to fly from Kansas city area to Denver Co this next week.

Looks to be a cold forcast. I was just thinking about Posting a question cold ops. I always pre-heat previous night, engine (Rief) and small space heater in cabin for the panel. I flew yester day and found my oil temps stayed pretty low. Asked about this on the Piper owners board and it was suggested to cover half of both the oil coolers with duct tape. Have any of you ever done this???

What do you carry an a trip like this 880nm round trip , COLD Weather???

Jon
 
Last edited:
dogman said:
What do you carry an a trip like this 880nm round trip one way, COLD Weather???

Jon
Click to expand...

Food. You are going to be flying over Kansas. Think Barren Wasteland. Having to land out in the winter time in that will be no fun. Wear winter hat/coat/gloves. Do not take them off in flight. Adjust cabin temp to keep yourself comfortable while wearing the clothing. There's no guarantee that you will be a) in any condition to find your cold weather gear or b) be able to find your cold weather gear in the event of landing.

basically imagine if you had to walk out of a snow covered field. probably have to be able to go several miles, not many houses out there. carry whatever you think you would need for that walk on your body, not in the baggage compartment.

Oh and check out www.equipped.org for a lot of good survival gear tailored to aviation.

A little birdie told me a future CFIcast will be dedicated to this topic...
 
dogman said:
I flew yester day and found my oil temps stayed pretty low. Asked about this on the Piper owners board and it was suggested to cover half of both the oil coolers with duct tape. Have any of you ever done this???
Click to expand...
The "official" way to do this is to install a Winterization Kit, which is no more than a plate of metal that blocks off some of the airflow to the oil cooler.

I'll bet the FAR gurus can find language outlawing the duct tape method, but I have heard that duct tape is used by many for this purpose. The club that I fly in installs the plates, so I have no direct experience.

-Skip
 
I pre-heat below 40deg cause at 41deg the plane starts easy at 39 deg it will not start.
 
And how could I forget...

Pilotcast #18 with our own Tom Downey on winter operations and other things mechanical was excellent too. My airplanes start a lot better ever since we did that episode!
 
tonycondon said:
Food. You are going to be flying over Kansas. Think Barren Wasteland. Having to land out in the winter time in that will be no fun. Wear winter hat/coat/gloves. Do not take them off in flight. Adjust cabin temp to keep yourself comfortable while wearing the clothing. There's no guarantee that you will be a) in any condition to find your cold weather gear or b) be able to find your cold weather gear in the event of landing.CRASH
Shot I can't find my gear after my normal landings.

basically imagine if you had to walk out of a snow covered field. probably have to be able to go several miles, not many houses out there. carry whatever you think you would need for that walk on your body, not in the baggage compartment.

Oh and check out www.equipped.org for a lot of good survival gear tailored to aviation.

A little birdie told me a future CFIcast will be dedicated to this topic...
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advise, I have heard of wearing winter gear during flight and have thought about it a lot. My problem is with size 14 shoes I would be riding the brakes all the way there with my cold weather boots on. I guess I could wear my regular boots and stick a couple of socks in my pocket.

My plan is to follow 36hwy from STJ to Denver, that will keep me close to some kind of help.

Thanks again
Jon
 
Duct tape on the oil cooler works. Someone told me they use a hose from a vehicle engine exhaust for pre-heating, run into the air intake. I have not tried that one yet. Bad idea. See below. Those crank operated lights that do not depend on batteries are a good idea, and if you get one that also runs an AM/FM/Weather radio and will recharge your cell phone you may have communications if you are not far from civilization. I wonder if you could use it to keep an ELT going longer. Water, food, shelter, heat, light, medications, first aid supplies, communications. I have not done this, but I have thought that if I flew over water much I ought to get an inflatable 4 person life-raft that has stuff for survival at sea. The same things ought to be useful anywhere, and the raft could help create a quick shelter. I need about 50-100 pounds of ballast in the baggage compartment anyway since I mostly fly with just the front seats filled.
 
Last edited:
Dwight B. Van Zanen said:
Someone told me they use a hose from a vehicle engine exhaust for pre-heating, run into the air intake.
Click to expand...

please dont try this. all the nasty chemicals (sulfur etc.) from your exhaust will corrode stuff that normally wouldnt, plus the amount of heat that would actually make it to the engine would be minimal. most of the heat from the exhaust gets used up condensing moisture. This topic was discussed thoroughly on the AOPA board.
 
tonycondon said:
please dont try this. all the nasty chemicals (sulfur etc.) from your exhaust will corrode stuff that normally wouldnt, plus the amount of heat that would actually make it to the engine would be minimal. most of the heat from the exhaust gets used up condensing moisture. This topic was discussed thoroughly on the AOPA board.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the warning. I had not seen that. We don't need pre-heating much here, and as I said I have not done it myself. Someone at the airport was talking about this during a recent cold spell that got down to the 20's.
 
One issue I've encountered before is frozen trim. A typical scenario is that the plane comes out of a heated hangar and/or takes of in above freezing air with the trim operating normally. Then after flying in below freezing air for a while the trim becomes frozen and won't move.
 
lance,
after coming out of a hanger? please explain that. i wouldnt think that would happen........am i missing something.:dunno:
thanks
 
7752564 said:
lance,
after coming out of a hanger? please explain that. i wouldnt think that would happen........am i missing something.:dunno:
thanks
Click to expand...

The issue is liquid water getting into the trim system and then freezing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top