Parking RV's in the 110 degree desert?
 

Hey guys,

I'm heading down to Page to do some boating on Lake Powell in July. I am from Seattle, so 110+ temps on an unpainted RV make me nervous. I will use the Van's canopy cover, but have heard reflection from the wings could be so hot to effect the canopy? Also not to mention the valuable avionics inside. :eek:

Parking in transient is 7 bucks/night a hangar is 45 bucks/night..

You guys are going to probably laugh at this guy from Seattle, but I am actually concerned about this. Would you have any issues with parking outside in this heat for a week?

Thoughts or recommendations?

Avionics Overheat
 

you may find that some of your electronics might not fire up at departure time. It gets real hot under that glare shield. Normally, everything is ok after it cools down.

We routinely tie down in the hot sun down here on the gulf coast - I find that as long as I put the canopy cover on, the cockpit temps stay fairly reasonable (less than the surface of the sun at least). A quantifiable measure is that without the cover, the harness buckles get too hot to touch. With the cover, they can be handled.

I've tied down outside in summertime FL, KS, AZ, NC, etc. but always use the cover if I am going to be much more than a short stop. It keeps the inside remarkably cooler. That said, I am pretty quick to pay the extra bucks to put my airplane in a hangar if I have any concern at all about weather. For an additional $38 per night, July in the Vegas area, I would probably spring for the hangar. My $.02 worth.

You'll be fine
 

You'll be fine. I fly my plane to work in the Summer and leave it out in the Phoenix area. I have one of the Flightline light weight covers. All electronics work fine. Anything in the you leave in the direct sunlight will wash out till cooled down in just moderate heat. I've had that happen at the Copperstate fly in on a hot day.

I've taken off in 117 OAT. Not comfortable but still beats driving. It won't get quite that hot up there.

The airplane will be fine, just make sure you take care of yourself on that lake. Lots of water, sunscreen and rest.

+ 1 on Darwin. We do Phoenix and Vegas a lot in the Summer with no issues.

I'd be more concerned about summer rain squalls. The southern Colorado Plateau can get some interesting storms in July/August. I've never flown to Page in July, but I've traveled extensively in the region and rain, with attendant flash floods, is part of the landscape in the summer months.

Take the hangar. You'll sleep better at night.

-Rob

Something I noticed on my friend's RV-10 (dark brown wingtips) is when it sits out in the triple-digit Texas summer heat and sun, is that the wingtips become almost rubbery flexible... like just press lightly with your finger and they flex a lot. I don't know what's different about the fiberglass in these wingtips from other RV wingtips or if it's the dark color absorbing so much heat, but it surely cannot be good for them to get so hot they flex so easily.

Abby's white cover and the two 80 mm computer cooling fans sure help out. If you have the typical full panel only turn on required avionics until you get up to cooler temps.