Cowl plugs when warm/hot

[DesertNomad]

I keep my cowl plugs in when parked but never put them in immediately after a flight. I'll come back to the hangar the next day or at least 6-8 hours later and put them in when everything is cool enough to touch.

I am planning a flight this week that will put me on the ground for 2-3 hours in 25F weather. I will not have pre-heat there, so would it be best to put the cowl plugs in right after landing to try to keep the engine as warm as possible for our departure?

Without the plugs, it will likely have cooled down to near ambient I would think.

This is on a Piper Dakota.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

My opinion is that it is a good idea to try to keep the heat. Consider also some moving blankets over the cowl.

I read that you keep a plane in a hangar which makes a difference to what I'll say next, but I once observed birds build a nest in a plane that wasn't parked for 5 minutes outside once during nesting season. Plugs would have kept them out of those openings; not to say they wouldn't have found another opening that isn't so obvious.

 

[Radar Contact]

I put mine in after landing on a hot engine regularly. Never had a problem. The paperwork that came with them said they were good for that.

 

[Bill]

I put mine in after landing on a hot engine regularly. Never had a problem. The paperwork that came with them said they were good for that.

Ditto, one of the last things I do before locking the airplane door and closing the hangar door is closing the cowl flaps and putting in the plugs. Hot or cold...

 

[Ravioli]

For a short stop like that in normal (70F to 105F in Tx) I'd leave them off. But that cold I would use them.

And even in the hangar they go in right away, but I do leave the oil door open while I'm knocking around doing logbooks and having a beer. Then the oil door is closed second to last. Hangar door being last.

 

[GRG55]

I keep my cowl plugs in when parked but never put them in immediately after a flight. I'll come back to the hangar the next day or at least 6-8 hours later and put them in when everything is cool enough to touch...

Hmmmm. Quite different from my routine. I never put the cowl plugs in when the plane is in the hangar. Where I am we get winter 6 months of the year, so hangars are mostly insulated and heated, therefore well sealed against birds and rodents so that might make a difference?

I put them in whenever the plane is parked outdoors away from home. I install them right after tie-down. Why would you wait 6-8 hours? But they will definitely help retain the heat for your cold weather stop.

 

[PaulS]

I do it in Cirrus'. Did it last December in Nantucket, 33 degree high, engine oil was still 50 degrees 5 hours later.

 

[DesertNomad]

I put them in whenever the plane is parked outdoors away from home. I install them right after tie-down. Why would you wait 6-8 hours? But they will definitely help retain the heat for your cold weather stop.

My hangar is not heated or insulated. I guess I am concerned about the plugs melting (or at least the foam inside). I guess it is a habit I got into from the beginning and have just always done it that way. I generally come back the next day and clean up the bugs, put in the plugs, etc. I think I'll put them in for the cold weather stop.