Cold weather operations rotax 912

T

Tony R

Pre-Flight
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Mar 12, 2019
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I went flying on yesterday and the OAT was 28 degrees fahrenheit. It took over 20 minutes on the ramp to get the oil temp to the POH minimum of 120 degrees. We were varying the rpm to try to get heat in the engine. Are there any magic RPMs that cold weather rotax fliers use? Luckily I had the plane for 3 hours so it wasn't too much of a waste of time.

Blue Skies
Tony
 
in the Bushcat installation, with two coolers, we tape cardboard over one until spring. If you only have one cooler, try blocking 1/2 with tape.
 
Yeah... Not my plane so I'm uncomfortable to touch anything but the controls.... Sometimes I'm not comfortable touching the controls either.... :)
 
Tony R said:
Yeah... Not my plane so I'm uncomfortable to touch anything but the controls.... Sometimes I'm not comfortable touching the controls either.... :)
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If something goes wrong, just be sure to pull the tape off. . Actually, you might talk with the owner. Thick oil & prolonged cold running has to (in my opinion) not be good for engine wear. in the 912, because of the water jacket, tolerances are much closer than on a regular plane engine.

if you’re burping the engine as you should, the greatest majority of that cold stiff oil is in the reservoir when the engine starts anyway, which makes the lube problem worse. Heaters & blankets are quite common in the 912 world.
 
I have a thermostat installed and still use the tape trick now and then ( but thats mostly to get above 180 F in cruise )
 
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