Some warm air under the panel will make the gyros last a
little longer, those bearings need to have lubrication too.

Flat struts are a real problem with some airplanes due to
cold. For example a Bonanza or Baron uses the inflated
strut to keep the wheel positioned in the well. A flat
strut can allow the wheel to move into a position which can
cause it to jam in the wheel well while it is up.



"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
| Mary and I went flying this morning, just a quick burger
flight to
| nearby Muscatine, Iowa, to warm up the oil and keep sharp.
The
| temperatures have been hovering around zero for the last
several days,
| so although the engine was nice and toasty (thanks to
Tanis oil pan
| and cylinder heaters) everything else was completely
cold-soaked.
|
| Mary's preflight inspection was thorough, fast, and in the
hangar, out
| of the wind. All the ice on our taxiway has sublimated
away (it sure
| hasn't melted!), so pulling Atlas out was much easier,
although
| everything was completely stiff in the cold. At those
temperatures,
| nothing moves easily.
|
| Putting on the frozen-solid LightSpeeds was enough to wake
me up!
| They slowly thawed, up against my head, and softened to
the point
| where the ANR functioned again, as we taxied out to the
active.
|
| Departure was normal "high winter performance climb".
Nothing like
| cold, thick air to make Atlas into a virtual rocket ship,
and Mary
| climbed out at an impossibly steep angle, hanging on the
prop. We
| were at 3000 feet before we left the pattern.
|
| The outside air temperature at 3500 feet was -20 F. Even
with the
| outstanding Piper heater on full, we didn't get the inside
temperature
| up to 60 until we were half-way to Muscatine. (It's only
a 24 minute
| flight...) The sky was a peculiar milky white, but all
the reporting
| stations were reporting "Clear below 12000 feet" for 100
miles in
| every direction. You could see the weather was changing,
however, and
| snow was predicted to hit later on. (It has been snowing
in spits and
| spats, as I'm writing this.)
|
| Coming in to land in KMUT, Mary crossed over midfield and
entered a
| left downwind for Rwy 24. With the wind 190 at 10, gusts
to 13, it
| was pushing her in a bit, but she expertly carved her way
to a perfect
| landing on 24.
|
| As she allowed the nose to lower on to the runway, the
glareshield
| passed through the horizontal -- and kept going down!
Apparently the
| extreme cold had caused the nose strut seal to fail, and
we were
| rolling down the runway in an unusual nose-down attitude,
the strut
| fully collapsed. Nothing alarming, but it sure felt
funny.
|
| Plugging Atlas into the handy power cord that every FBO in
the Upper
| Midwest has deployed at this time of year, the excellent
folks at
| Carver Aero already had the courtesy van warming up before
we even
| walked in the door! We usually walk to the nearby "Good
Earth"
| restaurant, but there was no way were walking today! So,
as long as
| we had wheels, we drove into town and ate at the
outstanding "Button
| Factory" -- a terrific restaurant that is inside a
fascinating old
| button factory. (Muscatine, being right on the
Mississippi River, was
| once the "button capital of the world", thanks to an easy
and ample
| supply of clams and clamshells, from which buttons were
originally
| made.)
|
| After a fantastic meal we shivered our way back to the
airport (but
| not before topping off the courtesy van). Now my turn to
preflight,
| the wind had really picked up. The temperatures had
cracked the low
| teens, now, but the wind still made it feel like a hundred
below.
|
| Taxiing out on our deflated nose strut felt funny, but we
were soon
| rocketing out over the Big River, making a broad circle
over what (in
| summer) is a national wildlife refuge, packed with birds.
Now, it was
| nothing but a stark wasteland of interlocking pieces of
ice, jammed
| together in bizarre and fantastic patterns. It's hard to
believe
| there is ever a time when making this flight is almost
unbearably hot,
| but it's true. In July, it would be like sitting in a
sauna...
|
| Touching down carefully in a gusty crosswind back in Iowa
City, we
| taxied slowly back to our hangar. Once tucked safely
inside, I put
| some down-force on the stabilator while Mary lifted on teh
prop, and
| we got the nose strut back up a few inches. My A&P
mechanic says it
| MIGHT be okay, once it warms up, and we add some nitrogen,
but will
| probably need a new seal. We'll just have to wait and
see.
|
| Baby, it's COLD out there!
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|