Preheating engines: Airplane engines versus auto engines

Matt's answer is right on.

Ah, yes, the annual "Is it necessary to pre-heat?" thread. Soon to
be followed by the "Should I leave it plugged in all the time?"
discussion!

Just to get the ball rolling, we pre-heat Atlas whenever the temp is
below 40 degrees F. And, yes, we leave it plugged in all the time.
("It" being a Tanis oil pan and cylinder head heater with a quilted
nose cowl wrap to hold the heat in...)

Here's a pic of our cowl wrap, custom made by Mary from an old nylon
sleeping bag and a bunch of velcro:
http://tinyurl.com/2oj9g7

We fly at least weekly, so I don't worry about condensation. IMHO,
plugging in the heater immediately after shut-down should help to
prevent condensation from developing, since the engine never cools
back to ambient temperature before it's started and brought back up to
temperature at the next flight.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Hi Jay!

Kinda feels like the other "home" doesn't it !?



Dave



On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:57:53 -0800 (PST), Jay Honeck
wrote:

Matt's answer is right on.

Ah, yes, the annual "Is it necessary to pre-heat?" thread. Soon to
be followed by the "Should I leave it plugged in all the time?"
discussion!

Just to get the ball rolling, we pre-heat Atlas whenever the temp is
below 40 degrees F. And, yes, we leave it plugged in all the time.
("It" being a Tanis oil pan and cylinder head heater with a quilted
nose cowl wrap to hold the heat in...)

Here's a pic of our cowl wrap, custom made by Mary from an old nylon
sleeping bag and a bunch of velcro:
http://tinyurl.com/2oj9g7

We fly at least weekly, so I don't worry about condensation. IMHO,
plugging in the heater immediately after shut-down should help to
prevent condensation from developing, since the engine never cools
back to ambient temperature before it's started and brought back up to
temperature at the next flight.

Jay Honeck wrote:
Matt's answer is right on.

Ah, yes, the annual "Is it necessary to pre-heat?" thread. Soon to
be followed by the "Should I leave it plugged in all the time?"
discussion!

Almost as much fun as the "does it hurt your engine to practice
engine-out approaches."

:-)

Matt