Cold Weather Flying

Mike Spera writes:

By the way, I have had ours out in -13 and the oil temp is pretty low,
even with the plate on. No battery boost was needed, even with the
aging cable. With thermal underwear it was still too cool for my
tastes. The heater does not keep the plane at any comfort level below
0F. Here in Illinois, +10-+15F is about the reasonable limit on a
tiedown. Fortunately, daytime temps don't go lower than that very
often.

It might be worth checking the heater box -- they can corrode pretty
badly when not used, and the valve might not be moving all the way
Mine has jammed up twice in the year I've owned the plane, but my AME
cleaned out the corrosion at the annual, and at his recommendation I
now slide the heater and defroster all the way open and closed again
on every preflight (use it or lose it).

When my heater valve is working, my plane can get too hot even with an
OAT of -30 degC and I have to reduce heat (that's with thermal
underwear but no coat). I also don't use the oil cooler plate because
the one that comes with my plane does not seem to fit -- the oil temps
stay low, but still within the zone.


All the best,


David