These are good tips. Also if you're anticipating very cold temps, top up your oil today because it might not actually pour tomorrow morning. I learned to fly in South Dakota in the dead of winter and found when it's really extra cold (like -25F and below), you need to be on you guard for systems behaving abnormally. One morning I set my Piper Cherokee's trim to neutral for the before takeoff checklist, and during initial climb I was arm-wrestling the yoke to keep the pitch up. Turned out the little indicator on the ceiling had a significant lag to catch up to where I had actually set it, which was very nose-down. That same morning, I noticed during preflight that the crankcase breather hose was completely blocked by an icicle that had formed there, and a mechanic used a heat gun to melt it out.
Turning the prop manually is not a myth. This from the Cessna 172S NAV III POH (version 172SPHBUS-00), under COLD WEATHER OPERATION: "Prior to starting on cold mornings, it is advisable to turn the propeller manually through several engine compression cycles by hand to loosen the oil, so the engine cranks (motors) more easily and uses less battery power. When the propeller is turned manually, turn it in the opposite direction to normal engine rotation for greater safety. Opposite rotation disengages the magneto impulse couplings and prevents possible unwanted ignition." I don't have an opinion on whether you should or shouldn't...just saying it's in the POH.
Here in Wisconsin I wont even try to start my plane without several hours of preheat under 30 degrees. I have a Tannis preheater that heats the oil pan and engine block. What's great about these systems is it only requires an outlet and an extension cord which any FBO or hangar bum on the field will be able to help you out with. There are a few other things you can do: - You can have a custom engine/cowl cover made that will insulate the engine bay. They're basically sleeping bags that fully wrap around. - What TYPE of oil you use matters a lot. You wouldn't use a W100 oil in the winter, you would use something like a 20W50 that does better in variable temps. - There are some more aggressive things you can do if you really need to get going, like starting a small fire under the engine to heat it.. but you're getting into Alaska Bushplane git-er-dun territory.
Fantastic feedback, thank you very much JD. Preheating is such a mystery and it shouldn’t be. Midwesterners know better than anyone how to do it. Would love to learn more about it from the Midwest perspective🙏🙂. Thanks again!
😊 when I fly in winter. I allow 2.5 hours more for preheating the engine and use a small ceramic heater in the cockpit to warm up the instruments. All this prior to preflight.
Great video and for us up here in the great white (well not so white at the moment) north, definitely a topic we have to be familiar with if we wanna fly year round. Good points but one more I'll add is keeping the cabin warm, especially if you have traditional mechanical instruments. All those dissimilar metals in your instruments have the same issues of uneven contraction as they do in your engine. I run a small heater in my plane's cabin which also helps keep the battery a little warmer as well.
Pumping the throttle does the same thing as the primer, only less so. Fuel can run down into the airbox from the primer just as easily as from the accelerator pump. Had this guy with a flying club who thought the engine should be reprimed if it did not start within two or three blades. Using the primer, he flooded that thing and had three induction fires in it before somebody straightened his ass out.
Mike Busch answers "no" to "does pulling the prop through help lubricate a cold engine?" here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pqyi8fj4ysQ.html#t=64m30s
Another great video, Nate! Great lessons and reminders! Regarding priming, I’ve been told it’s important to give it a few extra seconds to let the gas vaporize into fumes and the vapor is actually what ignites during start.
