Cold weather starting.

Thought I would share this experience with the group since I have worried
about cold weather starting each winter since I bought my plane.
Living in Tucson, it doesn't get cold very often, but on those mornings when
the ambient air temperature reaches freezing or below I have wondered if I
was harming the engine starting it early in the morning. I have an unheated
and unisulated hangar and use 15-50 year round.
This morning's forecast was for 30 degrees F and the ATIS was reporting 0
degrees C. After opening the hangar door I touched the concrete floor and
could tell it was much warmer than the air temperature. I placed a digital
thermometer against the front cylinder fins and got a reading of 45 degrees
F. The thermal mass of the floor and earth beneath had kept the engine at a
safe starting temperature.

--
Best Regards,
Mike
http://photoshow.comcast.net/mikenoel

This morning's forecast was for 30 degrees F and the ATIS was reporting 0
degrees C. After opening the hangar door I touched the concrete floor and
could tell it was much warmer than the air temperature. I placed a
digital thermometer against the front cylinder fins and got a reading of
45 degrees F. The thermal mass of the floor and earth beneath had kept
the engine at a safe starting temperature.

Interesting. I've also found that our hangar retains heat well in mildly
cool temperatures like this.

When it's cold like today, however (it's currently +3 F as I'm writing
this), the weak winter sun just can't bring the hangar up to much over 15
degrees.

That's why an oil pan and cylinder head heaters are essential in the upper
Midwest.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Mike,
My hangar lags behind ambient as well. Insulated doors do not hurt.
Michelle

Mike Noel wrote:

Thought I would share this experience with the group since I have worried
about cold weather starting each winter since I bought my plane.
Living in Tucson, it doesn't get cold very often, but on those mornings when
the ambient air temperature reaches freezing or below I have wondered if I
was harming the engine starting it early in the morning. I have an unheated
and unisulated hangar and use 15-50 year round.
This morning's forecast was for 30 degrees F and the ATIS was reporting 0
degrees C. After opening the hangar door I touched the concrete floor and
could tell it was much warmer than the air temperature. I placed a digital
thermometer against the front cylinder fins and got a reading of 45 degrees
F. The thermal mass of the floor and earth beneath had kept the engine at a
safe starting temperature.

On cold days my Colorado hangar is 10-15 degrees F warmer than outside.
It helps, but right now its 10 degrees outside (9 am). One of our
coldest days. It only gets this way a few days a winter. But you gotta
heat it somehow before you start it.

BTW, Lycoming says idle at 1000 rpm immedately to get oil flow at cold
temps.

On cold days my Colorado hangar is 10-15 degrees F warmer than outside.
It helps, but right now its 10 degrees outside (9 am). One of our
coldest days. It only gets this way a few days a winter.

The amazing thing is....it's still "fall"!

We're currently living through the coldest December on record, here in Iowa.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

That's called "Global Warming!!"

Karl
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:V%qpf.637234$_o.408909@attbi_s71...
On cold days my Colorado hangar is 10-15 degrees F warmer than outside.
It helps, but right now its 10 degrees outside (9 am). One of our
coldest days. It only gets this way a few days a winter.

The amazing thing is....it's still "fall"!

We're currently living through the coldest December on record, here in
Iowa.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

For temperatures and weather, both winter and summer seem to come a
month before the actual season change (winter starts in the middle of
November and summer starts in the middle of May). At least in Colorado
(and much of the US), this is true. Interestingly, seems like spring
and fall are about right. But that is normal. We are having a cold
"fall" as well.

Jay Honeck wrote:
On cold days my Colorado hangar is 10-15 degrees F warmer than outside.
It helps, but right now its 10 degrees outside (9 am). One of our
coldest days. It only gets this way a few days a winter.


The amazing thing is....it's still "fall"!

We're currently living through the coldest December on record, here in Iowa.

Jay, you just don't have the right definition of winter. Winter starts
when the first snow falls and ends when the last snow melts. Anyone in
snow country knows that! :-)

You city guys that read the calendar have a lot to learn. :-)


Matt

Jay, you just don't have the right definition of winter. Winter starts
when the first snow falls and ends when the last snow melts. Anyone in
snow country knows that! :-)

I know, but it's been a LONG time since we've seen anything like this.
Below zero, day after day -- in early December?

Two years ago, we still landing on grass strips until New Year's Day...
Last year the kids were bummed because we didn't have a White Christmas.

This year? We've got snow piles almost two stories tall at the Inn!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Jay, you just don't have the right definition of winter. Winter starts
when the first snow falls and ends when the last snow melts. Anyone in
snow country knows that! :-)


I know, but it's been a LONG time since we've seen anything like this.
Below zero, day after day -- in early December?

Two years ago, we still landing on grass strips until New Year's Day...
Last year the kids were bummed because we didn't have a White Christmas.

This year? We've got snow piles almost two stories tall at the Inn!

Yes, much the same here in PA, but I think less snow than you have. We
have about 8" on the ground at present. It has been quite cold though.
I record the temps every morning into a spreadsheet and we have been
below zero several times already with the lowest I've seen being -12.1
on 12/14.

Just a few years ago, 1999 to be exact, I bought the land that my house
now sits on. I needed a soil analysis and perc test for the septic
system and when I called in early November, they couldn't get me
scheduled until 12/10. They told me it was almost a certainty that I'd
have to wait until spring as they can't perc after the temp first drops
below freezing. Turns out, the lowest temp prior to 12/10 that year was
38! and, as I recall, it didn't drop below freezing until right around
Christmas.

This is closer to the winters I remember as a kid growing up in this
area in the 60s and 70s. We almost always had snow before Thanks giving
and deer season (the first Monday after Thanksgiving), and it stayed on
the ground until late March or early April. The year I graduated, 1977,
we had 2" of snow in early June! It melted by 10AM, but it was snow
nonetheless.


Matt