Baby, it's cold out there!

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"

I keep 250 watts going inside the cabin all winter. Keeps it pretty warm and
keeps the condensation away.

Karl
"Curator" N185KG



"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"

On 31 Jan 2007 15:31:45 -0800, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

Baby, it's COLD out there!

It's been pretty cold in the NE also. Last takeoff was with OAT around 0°F
and -25°C at altitude.

No strut seals to leak in the Mooney, but:

Very stiff elevator trim (well, in the Mooney it really trims the tail).
Got worse in flight.
Cured by re-lubing with cold weather grease. I don't know why that
wasn't done at annual time two months ago.

Very stiff Mixture Control -- that thawed out with flight. I did have the
cable lubed, but if there's water in there, that probably won't work for
long. We'll see.

I used to be able to see my breath in the cabin in these temps. But last
year I added an extra heat muff to the system; and the past few months
we've been tearing things apart and trying to seal up all the holes and
adding insulation. So we were comfortable; although there are still a few
small air leaks to be located and patched.

Oh -- and for the same RPM/MP settings, our TAS was about 7 knots faster;
our climb rate much more spiffy; and our indicated altitude was about 800'
higher than the true altitude (at 8500' indicated).


--ron

It's been pretty cold in the NE also. Last takeoff was with OAT around 0°F
and -25°C at altitude.

I just saw that our HIGH temperatures are going to be below zero over
the weekend. Gosh, I can't wait for that MidAmerican Energy bill next
month! (Heating three 3-story buildings is always an adventure, at
this time of year...)

Very stiff elevator trim (well, in the Mooney it really trims the tail).

Yeah, our electric trim doesn't work at all below about 10 degrees.
After the cabin warms up, it starts to work again, sluggishly.

Very stiff Mixture Control -- that thawed out with flight. I did have the
cable lubed, but if there's water in there, that probably won't work for
long. We'll see.

We used to have that on our Warrior, but never on the Pathfinder. I
don't know why -- probably newer control cables.

I used to be able to see my breath in the cabin in these temps. But last
year I added an extra heat muff to the system; and the past few months
we've been tearing things apart and trying to seal up all the holes and
adding insulation. So we were comfortable; although there are still a few
small air leaks to be located and patched.

Thankfully, Atlas is tight as a drum, and warms up quickly. We fly in
shirtsleeves most of the winter, but you can't sit in shirtsleeves
waiting for heat at these temperatures. After about 20 minutes,
though, we're trying to remove parkas and scarves -- always fun in the
tight quarters of your standard GA cockpit!

Oh -- and for the same RPM/MP settings, our TAS was about 7 knots faster;
our climb rate much more spiffy

Oh, yeah! The performance at this time of year is just fantastic. I
think about climbing out at the end of July -- and now -- and it's
like two entirely different aircraft. Sometimes it feels like we've
got JATO tubes strapped to the fuselage, we're climbing so steeply!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I keep 250 watts going inside the cabin all winter. Keeps it pretty warm and
keeps the condensation away.

Is that a light bulb or a heater?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:37:36 -0500, Ron Rosenfeld
wrote:

On 31 Jan 2007 15:31:45 -0800, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

Baby, it's COLD out there!

It's been pretty cold in the NE also. Last takeoff was with OAT around 0°F
and -25°C at altitude.

My flight-before-last, it was about 28 degrees F on the ground. Not as cold,
yes, but I fly an open-cockpit airplane. I think I notice it more. :-)

No strut seals to leak in the Mooney, but:

Very stiff elevator trim (well, in the Mooney it really trims the tail).
Got worse in flight.
Cured by re-lubing with cold weather grease. I don't know why that
wasn't done at annual time two months ago.

Very stiff Mixture Control -- that thawed out with flight. I did have the
cable lubed, but if there's water in there, that probably won't work for
long. We'll see.

My elevator trim is very stiff, too, but when you consider it's just a bent
piece of aluminum screwed onto the trailing edge, it's understandable. My
throttle is affected the same way as your mixture, and does free up a bit once
the noisemaker in front warms up.

It did require some care when taxiing out for takeoff, as the (uncontrolled
municipal) airport had about 4" of fresh snow and the plows didn't show up for
another day or so. The pavement was indistinguishable from the grass, and with
a taxiway only 25' wide it took some concentration to keep from running off into
the soft ground. It was actually tougher on the runway...it's a lot wider, but
I didn't have any visual references to how straight I was running. When I came
back to the airport for some touch-and-goes later, I could see the weaving
tracks of my initial takeoff.

I used to be able to see my breath in the cabin in these temps. But last
year I added an extra heat muff to the system; and the past few months
we've been tearing things apart and trying to seal up all the holes and
adding insulation. So we were comfortable; although there are still a few
small air leaks to be located and patched.

When it gets blow freezing, I start wearing a spandex ski mask. The trouble is,
if I pull it up over my mouth, it redirects my breath upward. On the ground,
that causes my goggles to fog. It's OK once we get moving, as the turbulence
behind the windshield tends to push the condensation down.

The mask does inhibit my speaking on the radio (due to its drag on the lips),
but not as bad as NOT having it does. Without the mask, my cheeks and lips get
real stiff, and my articulation goes to heck ("Au-urn traffi, Eye Baby Ate Ower
Ate dow-win for uch-an-go").

Oh -- and for the same RPM/MP settings, our TAS was about 7 knots faster;
our climb rate much more spiffy; and our indicated altitude was about 800'
higher than the true altitude (at 8500' indicated).

Normally, the airport disappears *behind* me as I climb out, but on this day, it
went away *below*. It was like flying an F-16 or something... :-)

Ron Wanttaja

On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 07:20:30 -0800, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:

My flight-before-last, it was about 28 degrees F on the ground. Not as cold,
yes, but I fly an open-cockpit airplane. I think I notice it more. :-)

I've been up in a friend's Stearman, but never in weather that cold. I can
only imagine (and I don't want to).
--ron

I flew with a guy in a Stearman in the winter. I was in my Husky. He
wore a full snowmobile suit. And he was still cold. It wasn't THIS
cold though (its 16F here now).

The best solution is a heated vest, the ones you get at the motorcycle
stores.

My Arrow is in annual inspection mode right now. The mechanic called
to tell me that the landing gear reinforcement part for SB1161 has
been back-back-ordered and won't be in until Feb. 13. With zero
forecast in Chicago over the weekend, they can keep the airplane until
further notice.

I've never regretted having January inspections, although sometimes
it's a challenge to get the plane to the shop.

On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:50:26 -0500, Ron Rosenfeld
wrote:

On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 07:20:30 -0800, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:

My flight-before-last, it was about 28 degrees F on the ground. Not as cold,
yes, but I fly an open-cockpit airplane. I think I notice it more. :-)

I've been up in a friend's Stearman, but never in weather that cold. I can
only imagine (and I don't want to).

I've flown in a Stearman a couple of times (front pit) and I find the cockpit
uncomfortable. There's a TON of draft that I don't get in my (single-seat)
airplane. Might be gaps in the panels up front, might be airflow from the top
wing. One flight was on a ~45 degree day, and I shot some photos of the pilot
back over my shoulder. He looks absolutely miserable....

Here's a shot of me, dressed to fly on a cold day about ten years ago:

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/ice5.gif

Here's the airplane. Notice the icicles hanging off the Agwagon in the
background....

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/ice4.gif

Ron Wanttaja