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RVs in winter

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ShawnR

Well Known Member
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Do many of you fly your RV#A's in the winter? Around here, our grass strip gets snowed in so not available to an RV. I wondered about flying one in the winter (in a snow area). We have an international airport ie paved and plowed.

Do you take the wheel pants off?

How do you heat it? In my previous certified aircraft, I used a small heater under the cowling and an insulated cowl cover. I think the Warrior and others had more room under the cowlings for such. I also used a hair dryer at times. I did see an RV4 being heated by a long small diameter (3"?) tube directing the warm air into the cowling around the exhaust I think. I guess an A model would have room near the front gear? I don't own an A yet but might soon, so, looking ahead.

A hangar most likely will not be available. Sad as it may be, it may be wing, tail and canopy covers for winter months.

Any winter flying/owning tips?
 
Light snow on runway is ok, ice is what you need to be very careful. Many “A” drivers probably taxi with brakes to steer but nose wheel does not turn well on ice since you typically are trying to keep min weight/down force on nose gear. Steer with rudder but that still is challenging on ice or slick snow. Nose wheels also do not go through snow plow strips very well. Tried once in MN (was told by control tower it would be ok, I was student and did not know better to say unable) and needed to shut down and pull plane out of the snow strips.
Also beware that if you get caught flying in snow, you need to pull the filter bypass open. Snow can quickly plug the air filter and then your day will not end well.
Lots of threads if you search on engine pre-heat.
 
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ShawnR said:
Do many of you fly your RV#A's in the winter? Around here, our grass strip gets snowed in so not available to an RV. I wondered about flying one in the winter (in a snow area). We have an international airport ie paved and plowed.

Do you take the wheel pants off?

How do you heat it? In my previous certified aircraft, I used a small heater under the cowling and an insulated cowl cover. I think the Warrior and others had more room under the cowlings for such. I also used a hair dryer at times. I did see an RV4 being heated by a long small diameter (3"?) tube directing the warm air into the cowling around the exhaust I think. I guess an A model would have room near the front gear? I don't own an A yet but might soon, so, looking ahead.

A hangar most likely will not be available. Sad as it may be, it may be wing, tail and canopy covers for winter months.

Any winter flying/owning tips?
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Not sure what things are like in Ontario, but here (Minnesota), if you don't fly in winter then your airplane sits unflown for 4 or 5 months of the year.

I fly my -9A year-round, although I do have some temp limits...I don't fly below zero° F mainly for comfort. The airplane flies very well and is pretty comfortable. I'm at a fair-size regional airport and the runways are plowed pretty meticulously but I do tend to remove the wheel pants in the winter. I can't imagine keeping my airplane outside, especially without a preheater, and lease a T-hangar. I use a Rieff pre-heater and Hornet cockpit heater, which work well and will get the block and oil to 100°F in a few hours but you have to have a place to plug the airplane in. I keep it plugged, but only activate the heaters (cell phone switch) when I know I'm going to fly the next morning.
 
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One of the best things I fabricated outta spare aviation sheetmetal, this heater powered by a ceramic heater fan. Pictured in use on a previous aircraft of mine. Works super well, eventually close the cowl openings, plug-in and leave running for 1hr or more if necessary, and the whole engine is nicely warm.

My bird now inhabits, supreme luxury, a heated hangar, so the heater was given away and is used to heat the IO-390 of an RV-14 in the next unheated hangar. Remote controlled by a cell phone :cool:
 

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I fly out of CNC3 which does a good job of snow removal. My limit is about -5/-6C on the ground. Have flown at -10C on the ground but -15C in the air is too cold in the cabin for me. I use a ceramic heater (running on low heat) like Dan 57 but duct it into the cowl inlet and block the other side with a cowl plug. I use a blanket over the cowl. I also have sump heater, both of which are turned on remotely by cell switch a couple hours before I go flying.

In the 7 I installed seat heaters on the bottom cushions which are great! They warm the memory foam so it isn't like sitting on cement. I also run 2 heat muffs in series in reverse flow (inlet at the bottom) which gives much improved heat output than single muffs.

It's a good idea to remove the wheel pants. I didn't once and on a nice sunny day landed on a runway with some slushy spots. The slush froze the brake inside the pant while I was having lunch. Couldn't push the plane when I did my walk around. Took some doing to chisel it out with a screwdriver. I was worried about my landing back at home if the same thing happened on TO but it turned out to be a non event.
 
i live in n. wi. so it is cold a lot. 20f is about as cold as i go out.prep is yhe coldest. actually in the air it is ok. a lot of extra work. i always shovel to my door area so that it melts with the first sunny day. airport takes care of the rest. then there is the drift across my service door.
i am lucky to have a liquid cooled engine for this. i have a 400 watt plug in the block that raises temp 40 deg/hr and a stick on 75 watt on the oil sump.
an hour tops to preheat at 20 deg oat.
 
RV’s in winter.

Great fun in the winter. I’m hangared with a Tanis preheat system and dual cabin heat.
 

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I try to fly at least once per week during the winter (preheat first) here in southern Ohio (Cincinnati). Hard surface only. I would land on ice (lake) if it was groomed, but we don’t have any lakes in Ohio. There are some man made lakes, but I don’t trust them because the water is moving below the ice, and not as thick as you think.
 
I have the pre heating down great. I need to get some heat in the cabin. We flew from Mason MI to Walnut Ridge AR this morning and had to land in Frankfort IL because we were FREEZING! It was 20 degrees outside and only 27 F inside. After an hour we had enough and had to land to warm up. The rest of the trip we weee able to get above the clouds and at least had some sun heating but it was still in the low 20F outside.

I have an O 320 and a small heat muff. It makes an old VW Bug heater feel like a volcano. I need to figure out something better. Ugg!
 
thanks for the input

Thanks everyone for all of the replies. Great input and food for thought. I should know the end of this week if flying an RV this winter will be a reality. Looking more closely at the 9A on the weekend, (not mine yet), I noted the air outlet (guessing what it is) and that looks like a good place to put a warm air source into. After that, it is just a matter of choosing my heat source. Where it will be wintered, I will have power and in the past, a small ceramic heater worked. I was not sure how well it would work with the tighter fitting cowls of an RV versus my Warrior. Before that one, I just put a hair dryer into the cowling. (with an insulated cowl cover of course)

Thanks,
Cheers
 
ShawnR said:
Thanks everyone for all of the replies. Great input and food for thought. I should know the end of this week if flying an RV this winter will be a reality. Looking more closely at the 9A on the weekend, (not mine yet), I noted the air outlet (guessing what it is) and that looks like a good place to put a warm air source into. After that, it is just a matter of choosing my heat source. Where it will be wintered, I will have power and in the past, a small ceramic heater worked. I was not sure how well it would work with the tighter fitting cowls of an RV versus my Warrior. Before that one, I just put a hair dryer into the cowling. (with an insulated cowl cover of course)

Thanks,
Cheers
Click to expand...

Antisplat sells a really nice and easy oil heater.. works great!! You screw out into one of the unused drain ports and just plug it in
 
I use a Reiff system with sump and cylinder bands. Easy to get 100F when starting, just leave it on long enough.

I have the studded exhaust from AWI, but only one heat muff. I really need two to get the cabin nice a warm below 5F OAT. It was just fine today at 22F. BUT - - only when leaned!!:D
 
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