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Starting the engine in the cold

RV3bpilot

Well Known Member
This morning I thought it was about 20 degrees so shoveled the snow out from in front of the hangar and pulled out the plane so I could go put some fuel in it for a planned flight to Wisconsin.
I hopped in and pushed the start button and the engine turned over slowly, my first thought was the battery needed charging. Then the engine started and ran for a short bit at a very low RPM's and quit. I re-started it and gave it a little gas to keep it running and after a couple of minutes I checked the outside air temperature, wow only 3 degrees, no wonder the engine did not want to turn over fast.
My next adventure was trying to take off the fuel caps. In warm weather I just flip the latch and push in to push the bottom down so the bottom rubber O-ring will fit through the hole easier. But at 3 degrees the rubber was hanging up on the sides of the neck of the filler hole. I had an awful time wiggling it off, I even had to take off my gloves and after the cap came out of the hole my fingers were so cold I had to place them under my jacket and under my arm pits to thaw them out enough so I could work on getting the other fuel cap loose. The second one was worse than on the other tank.
I pulled out the static ground cable and it would not stay out so I had to lay the very stiff fuel hose on it to keep it hooked to the aircraft.
By then my fingers were not working very well and it was time to try my luck at the card reader. I had to take off my gloves to get the card out of my wallet and I had to push all the info in with my gloves off. Now I had to re-warm my fingers again under my arm pits.
Fueling went well except the nozzle was so cold that it just about froze my fingers before I could get 15 gallons in. I had to warm up my fingers again before attempting to wrestle with the large tree limb size fuel hose to get it back in on the reel, at least it has a power retracting reel.
I think I'm going to move somewhere else where the weather does not get so darn cold.. I would not mind 30 degrees but when it gets down close to zero it is hard to work on anything outside:(......
 
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Ahhhh....Memories!!

I have always said that you don't know cold until you've been a teenage line boy in Minnesota, and pumped gas into a Cessna, standing up on a ladder in the wind at sub-zero temperatures.....

Thanks for the reminders of the "good old days"!;)
 
I have always said that you don't know cold until you've been a teenage line boy in Minnesota, and pumped gas into a Cessna, standing up on a ladder in the wind at sub-zero temperatures.....

Thanks for the reminders of the "good old days"!;)

Or putting an engine tent on a DC-3 in Resolute Bay NWT at -52 degrees.
 
"They" say that too many starts in really cold weather with really cold/thick oil is not good for your cylinders.

A couple weeks back, I was in Knoxville when the temps dropped into the low 30s the morning I was to be returning to Florida. I had them put my plane in their big FBO hangar that night. It was nice and warm and started easily in the morning.

It cost me $40, but I sure felt like I did my plane a favor..
 
chilly kahuna!

Robin, you are the MAN!...just need some better gloves.
Some guys have the thin ones that allow some dexterity, with the insulated ones slipped overtop.

it's about 30 F here this morning, and when it 'warms up' like this , it usually means a little snow at least!
I DO wonder about your start, and hope the experts comment.
If the engine stops, and there was no oil pressure yet, what's the best thing to do?
I would have probably re-started also, I think Lyc states you should have oil pressure in 30 seconds...it certainly isn't splashing around where you'd like it to at those temps, at least not for 5 minutes!
Do you block your cowl inlets at all?

Lots of good cold weather ops advice out there, along with some hyperbole.
 
now how cold IS that????

Or putting an engine tent on a DC-3 in Resolute Bay NWT at -52 degrees.

Paul, is that Foreignheat, or -52 Centipedes? ( MUCH colder eh?)
I think at those temps, the mercury in the thermometer retracts into its little bulb like, well, like some OTHER appendages that would rather keep warm! :D

( Seinfeld: "...there's SHRINKAGE?......like a scared Turtle!!!"):rolleyes:
 
Hey Turbo, You have any extra room down there? If I can get the RV out of the hangar, if the runway is clear, and, the big one, if I can even see the runway, I would love to join you in that "bath tub" you have down there.

Here I sit in West Michigan up to my armpits in snow, with the wind rattling the windows in my office, wondering if the sun is still burning?
 
In my younger days, that is two years ago, we use to go to ice climbing in Canada and elsewhere and I don?t believe that was as tough as it has been described here. All I can say, I am glad I live in CA.
 
I agree...

I have always said that you don't know cold until you've been a teenage line boy in Minnesota, and pumped gas into a Cessna, standing up on a ladder in the wind at sub-zero temperatures.....

Thanks for the reminders of the "good old days"!;)

I did two winters at Thunderbird Aviation, Crystal Airport, Crystal MN (N.W. Mpls)

Getting the fuel truck started first thing in the morning was tougher than starting any airplane.

It's making me shiver just thinking about it.
 
First Flight

On December 31st at 4 PM in the afternoon in Cleveland, Ohio I made the first flight in my RV-4 with an OAT of -10F. We had to drive around to multiple airports to get find a non-frozen fuel pump. Family and friends were very patient with me. After all, the plane was finished and needed flying. :)

I had no cylinder temp issues. :)
And I had never been in a airplane that climbed at that angle, especially at those temps. I had flown out of the field for many years so I knew where the alternate landing locations off the end of the runway were going to be if needed. I had to laugh when I crossed over the end of the runway at something like 1500' AGL. I had never seen that before.

It's funny watching the video after I land. I am on an euphoric high and everyone else is shivering and wants to get inside.

I think it is the only good memory of the cold in Cleveland that I have!

Vic
 
Paul, is that Foreignheat, or -52 Centipedes? ( MUCH colder eh?)
I think at those temps, the mercury in the thermometer retracts into its little bulb like, well, like some OTHER appendages that would rather keep warm! :D

( Seinfeld: "...there's SHRINKAGE?......like a scared Turtle!!!"):rolleyes:

They meet at -40 and it just gets worse from there. What I remember most is my eyelids freezing open and my nostrils freezing closed. :)
 
Making a pre-heater for the cold nights

I'm using an idea that another builder posted on this site. I'm making an engine heater out of a milk house heater and aluminum dryer vent hose. Next time my engine will start easier when it is cold outside. With 8' of hose I should be able to place the heater at a distance in case it decides to catch fire it will not burn the aircraft to the ground..
 
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