[frghtdg]

Hello to you all,
I am seeking information, tips, do's and don't, and feedback on operating a IO-390 in a cold environment. Say 20* F and above. My plan is to travel from S Florida to NC during the winter months.
Engine cowling heat blanket?????
Oil Pan heater pad??????
Turning the prop thru by hand before starting??????
Oil Viscosity??????
Etc....what do you do?

I know the ideal would be to pay additional for a heated hanger spot, at least the night before departure. It is the cold initial start for the flight home that has me pondering.
"It's up there" is about all I know operating in cold wx.

On the topic of cold.....does the Vans cabin heater work well at 10,000'+ alt?

Hank
RV-14 80%
Gliders
Dues
747

 

[ChiefPilot]

Heh. 20?F is only slightly cool in Minnesota

In all seriousness, I do the heated hanger route the night before (and the whole time if possible. Preheating an engine on a plane left outside is pretty straightforward and most FBOs can easily do this, but sometimes the cost of doing so isn't a whole lot less than a heated hangar overnight and it doesn't do anything for the frost/ice/snow that might be on the airframe.

A nice bonus is that the aircraft is reasonably warm when you crawl into it - this is kind of important since you won't get much heat from the heat muff while taxiing. Can't say how effective the -14s heater system is - I put dual heat muffs on my -6A and it's good to about -5?F during a sunny day and perhaps 15?F at night.

 

[vic syracuse]

Be careful after moving an aircraft from a heated hangar into really cold temps such as freezing and below. The canopies are much more prone to cracking with the abrupt change in temps. Be gentle with everything until the temps have equalized.

Vic

 

[elev666]

Scottish preheater

Hi Hank
I'm going back to my flight training days now, we only had room for one a/c in the hangar so what we would do ( if you have access to some power) is stick a old fashion treble light inside The bottom of the cowling and it would keep things toasty warm till the morning when you bring it out and turn off your 60 or 100 watt bulb, likely a good idea to get cowl blanket though!

 

[Canadian_JOY]

There are many good threads here on VAF about pre-heat techniques. And a few about personal limits as to when pre-heat is required. If you are tied down outside, a good engine cover will help keep the heat in, whatever source you choose for our pre-heating. Aero-Covers offers a really nice cover made using Thinsulate. I have one of these and can't believe how much less bulky it is than the traditional engine covers of days of old.

 

[AAflyer]

Hi Hank
I'm going back to my flight training days now, we only had room for one a/c in the hangar so what we would do ( if you have access to some power) is stick a old fashion treble light inside The bottom of the cowling and it would keep things toasty warm till the morning when you bring it out and turn off your 60 or 100 watt bulb, likely a good idea to get cowl blanket though!

I've been flying my -8 for only a couple of months, and because I painted a couple of hefty coats of glossy, white appliance epoxy on the inside of my cowl, I haven't seen the need to install any heat shield/foil to it. Lately, I've been using the "ol' lightbulb under the oil pan' technique, with a timer to give my engine a head start toward warmer temps. I can wedge the bare bulb against the oil pan and an exhaust bracket to keep it from resting directly on the cowl. The other day I found that the bulb had slipped and had been touching the cowl for hours...I thought I'd see heat damage, but...NO!! I felt so relieved. Alas, after my flight, when I was down cleaning bugs off the fairings and cowl, I spied a brown scorch mark on the bottom of the lower cowl, exactly where the light had rested on the inside. The appliance paint was plenty strong, but the grey, one-part epoxy on the outside was not up to the job. Will now consider foil to keep the exhaust pipes from inflicting similar damage.

 

[ChiefPilot]

I felt so relieved. Alas, after my flight, when I was down cleaning bugs off the fairings and cowl, I spied a brown scorch mark on the bottom of the lower cowl, exactly where the light had rested on the inside. The appliance paint was plenty strong, but the grey, one-part epoxy on the outside was not up to the job. Will now consider foil to keep the exhaust pipes from inflicting similar damage.

Maybe the paint is fine but the underlying glass is damaged. No joke - I saw this happen on my cowl. It results from convective vs. radiative heat.

White paint inside the cowl was fine, but I accidentally scratched it and dark brown/black stuff was underneath. I cleaned the paint off to find about a 3x3 section of fiberglass damaged from heat. After repair, it got the foil+insultaor treatment which has been successful thus far.

 

[gerrychuck]

Be careful after moving an aircraft from a heated hangar into really cold temps such as freezing and below. The canopies are much more prone to cracking with the abrupt change in temps. Be gentle with everything until the temps have equalized.

Vic

True, but in my experience it takes MAJOR thermal shock to crack the canopy. I pull my plane out of a hangar heated to 50 degrees into sub-freezing temps all winter, every winter. I did experience an edge crack in my windscreen a couple of years ago; we had an absolutely brutal winter, one of the coldest on record (and that's saying something in Saskatchewan!) Finally couldn't take it any more and pulled the aircraft out at about -22C (-8F). Didn't notice the crack that day, but saw it pretty quickly the next time I went to the hangar. I really wouldn't be concerned with temps above 10-15 F. Honestly, I can't imagine having any risk of canopy cracking on a flight from Florida to NC at any time of year. In my part of the world we think of NC as subtropical.

As for the engine, run a multigrade synthetic or semi-synthetic like Exxon Elite and you will barely need any pre-heat or a heated hangar, although your engine will appreciate it if you do treat it to one of those.