Cold is Good!

It was under 20F here in Atlanta yesterday morning, but there was zero wind
and the sun was shining bright.

AND, I had the timer set to activate the sump heater from 4 AM until 8 AM.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to the airport until 9:00, so the engine was
lukewarm, not "oil temperature in the yellow" warm when it was time to start
the engine. I had to crank and crank to get the engine started. Two whole
blades passed before it fired. ;-)

Bumpety, bumpety, bump down the taxiway. The tires were cold. And flat
spotted from sitting for a week. If I'd been smart, I would have rolled the
aircraft a few inches back or forward when I set-up the timer for the
preheater.

Anyway, after enough ground idle to get the oil temperature into the yellow,
plus a run-up for a couple of bonus degrees, off I went, and what a ride!
Off the ground, keep it low, 140+ knots at the other end of the runway, and
up, up, up in a climbing turn into the crosswind... It is amazing how much
more performance the airplane has in 20F, compared to 90F.

Not a bump in the sky. And clear. 75+ miles of visibility clear. We don't
get that very often here. Upside down, rightside up, loops, rolls, barrel
rolls, plus a few awkward combinations nobody has named. Only problem was
that on my first loop, the headsets ended up in the baggage area...

3.5 G loops get spooky slow on top, and I'm a bit rusty on inverted spins...
Note to self: use 4 G's on loops, and pull to 4 immediately. Don't try and
sneak up on it.

There is a mythical 2,800' grass strip (Brigadoon?) NW of my home field.
I've never been able to find it. Until today! Allegedly the smoothest grass
strip in North GA. I idled across it at 100 knots, over and around the
farmhouse at the end, and back on the power once I was away from the houses.
It is good to be nice to people with airstrips. And their neighbors.

Oh, and by the way, despite the incredible weather, there were no other
airplanes in the sky until I headed back to the field. Everyone else must
turn on their pre-heaters after they get to the airport. That just leaves
more sky for those of us with pre-heaters.