Old man winter is finally here

I'm hoping to get enough snow so the skis can go on the J-3.
When I have to wear so much clothing that I can't pull the stick all the way back for a 3 pointer, it's time to re-evaluate the winter flying thing.
Short of that, keep the block heater on and pull the prop real hard.
 
Zeldman said:
Here in New Mexico, half of those cars usually have Colorado plates.... the other half California plates.... and sometimes they don't even need snow to park in the ditch..!!!:lol::lol:
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We imported 5 million idiots that don’t know how to drive in the snow, and now apparently we’re also exporting them to NM. Who knew?
 
Zeldman said:
At that temperature..... Who cares..!!!! :lol::lol:
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Was -40 the temperature below which Buffalo Air would not fly, in the TV show Ice Pilots?

I remember thinking, are they talking about C or F, and then I realized it didn’t matter.
 
I've seen 50 Alaskan winters. I'm pretty sure what number 51 will look like. If I never saw another snow shovel it'd be fine by me. Ski flying is fun but winter airplane prep sucks. So do short, dark days.
 
NoHeat said:
Was -40 the temperature below which Buffalo Air would not fly, in the TV show Ice Pilots?

I remember thinking, are they talking about C or F, and then I realized it didn’t matter.
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Even the Russians shut down at 40 below surface temperature...
 
My airplane doesn’t like the cold,so I relocate it to Florida. A simple solution to avoid snow shoveling and frostbite.
 
NoHeat said:
Was -40 the temperature below which Buffalo Air would not fly, in the TV show Ice Pilots?

I remember thinking, are they talking about C or F, and then I realized it didn’t matter.
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Yupp, but for them it was the actual temp, not the windchill factor which is usually lower. Thankfully I haven't seen -40 temp, but have seen -45 windchill, several times

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WannFly said:
Yupp, but for them it was the actual temp, not the windchill factor which is usually lower. Thankfully I haven't seen -40 temp, but have seen -45 windchill, several times

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Had -38 in Butte one crisp morning. The air was still so that was nice. I had ice crystals in my nostrils after the walk from the parking lot to the office.
 
Clark1961 said:
Had -38 in Butte one crisp morning. The air was still so that was nice. I had ice crystals in my nostrils after the walk from the parking lot to the office.
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I spent one winter in Appleton, WI building a project. I knew it was going to be a long day if my nostrils froze during my short walk from the apartment to the truck. That typically happened at about -18 to -20f.

An interesting winter to say the least.

I helped shovel snow out of the stands at Lambeau Fueld one Friday and got free tickets to that Sunday's game for doing so. That was fun....
 
NoHeat said:
Was -40 the temperature below which Buffalo Air would not fly, in the TV show Ice Pilots?

I remember thinking, are they talking about C or F, and then I realized it didn’t matter.
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Most of the companies I worked for in Alaska stopped operations at -38f. Not because it was hard on the pilots, but because the little things would get brittle and break on the planes.

Clark1961 said:
Had -38 in Butte one crisp morning. The air was still so that was nice. I had ice crystals in my nostrils after the walk from the parking lot to the office.
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timwinters said:
I spent one winter in Appleton, WI building a project. I knew it was going to be a long day if my nostrils froze during my short walk from the apartment to the truck. That typically happened at about -18 to -20f.
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I don't consider it officially cold until I have to blow ice out of my nose and my eyelids froze shut every time I blinked....

I was doing the pre-flight one morning and the bottle of water in my pocket froze.

Single digit temperatures doesn't feel all that cold here in NM with sunny skies and an afternoon high in the upper 30s or low 40s.
 
My son was stationed at Ft. Wainwright just outside Fairbanks Alaska. In January they got their notice about rotating to the NTC at Ft. Irwin California prior to deployment. With the note came a set of warnings about low temperatures in the desert in winter. Even down into the 20's. At the time, the temperature at Ft. Wainwright was 35 below. He said they weren't impressed.
 
Dad was stationed at Duluth MN and I went to school one day (7th grade) and the temp was -37. Not sure if that was the actual temp or w/ wind chill factor. Turns out half the students didn't show up so the school didn't count it as an absence. Grrr....
 
Riding a snowmachine for an hour and a half to reach to truck in -45* is bad enough. Standing around for 3 hours trying to preheat the truck so it would start? That's when the cold soaks in. Life in the north.

Flying in winter is a chore with preheating and all the covers that come off and go back on. Doing the chores in -40? Not fun.
 
How cold was it? It was so cold.....

1994? we skied Quebec City at Christmas. It was so cold they shut down the lift and kicked us out. They said at M40 the machinery was going to start breaking. I think it was for the sake of the staff more than anything. Honestly it is not much fun to be blasted by snow making equipment coming down a hill at 40mph while it is -40C. Way better to be in the warm opulent lobby of Chateau Frontenac sipping HC and brandy.
Only M40C? What is that in F? M40C=M40F
 
Coldest for me was -30F, and that's plenty cold. Don't intend to endure those temps aver again.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Coldest for me was -30F, and that's plenty cold. Don't intend to endure those temps aver again.
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It’s funny how perception of cold goes. In the Gulf guys would be putting on jackets at 50 degrees. In Wyoming we’d be in shirt sleeves at 20 degrees.

I’d still rather have cold than heat. I can always put on more clothes. Everyone screams at me if I run out of clothes to take off.
 
Clark1961 said:
In Wyoming we’d be in shirt sleeves at 20 degrees.

I’d still rather have cold than heat. I can always put on more clothes. Everyone screams at me if I run out of clothes to take off.
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Maybe not shirt sleeves, but there was a time when 20F was a t-shirt and a flannel long sleeve over it. I'm now acclimated to the heat, and have no problems commuting on my bicycle in upper 90's and humidity. It's all what you get used to.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
How cold was it? It was so cold.....

1994? we skied Quebec City at Christmas. It was so cold they shut down the lift and kicked us out. They said at M40 the machinery was going to start breaking. I think it was for the sake of the staff more than anything. Honestly it is not much fun to be blasted by snow making equipment coming down a hill at 40mph while it is -40C. Way better to be in the warm opulent lobby of Chateau Frontenac sipping HC and brandy.
Only M40C? What is that in F? M40C=M40F
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Still making snow at Christmas? Ouch. That’s called a “bad year” around here. But we are having one this year.
 
Stewartb said:
Riding a snowmachine for an hour and a half to reach to truck in -45* is bad enough. Standing around for 3 hours trying to preheat the truck so it would start? That's when the cold soaks in. Life in the north.

Flying in winter is a chore with preheating and all the covers that come off and go back on. Doing the chores in -40? Not fun.
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Yes but the dl8ght after than is very rewarding... u don't get to see 1400 fpm climb in a 172 or an archer that often

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We got down to 32F (0C) last night and saw some flurries. They melted when they contacted the warm ground. Of course all the morons and Californians were freaking out and driving 30mph on slightly wet roads.
Woke up to sunshine and dry roads this morning. 40F (5C). Not too many idiots on the roads today (thank you, Jebus) since the "morans" already declared local schools closed last night. Quiet at work today. Many stayed at home because they're either afraid to drive on dry roads on a sunny day or the school screwed them and dumped their kids on them so they took a vacation day to baby-sit.

So yes, the perception of cold and danger varies greatly.
One benefit from all the dumbazzes panicking: the traffic should be very light going home tonight. :)
 
My house in College Station got 3-4 inches of snow overnight. It rained in Anchorage. Go figure.
 
I like Waco. Especially when the Food Truck Challenge is going on. Good times!
 
My wife sent a pic of my grandson at about noon. Sunny, green grass, whacking a baseball in the yard. My kind of winter! Sadly I'm in Anchorage, where it rained all day yesterday.
 
Norman said:
I used to do that too, and when I got front wheel drive took it to a parking lot only to discover it reacts much differently than rear wheel drive.
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No no.... front wheel drive you do it in reverse. Hang on for the ride!!
 
Got photos this morning from my family in Houston that it snowed there last night.

Rumor from elsewhere is a couple of NetJets crews pointed their airplanes at each other to de-ice there this morning too. Ha. Creative. As long as you don’t break anything.
 
WannFly said:
Don't mind the snow... it's the -40 windchill that doesn't provide much warmth....

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Pilawt said:
Was that Fahrenheit or Celsius ... ?

:p
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WannFly said:
They are the same at -40

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Are they? WannFly wrote -40 windchill. While -40F and -40C are equal when discussing ambient temperature, are they the same when discussing windchill? Even if the windchill calculation ended up at -40 for both, the ambient temps would not be the same. If the ambient temps were both -40, then the respective calculated windchill would be different. So are they truly the same? :dunno:
 
IMO Celsius, while it may be good for scientists use, is totally lacking in relation to human comfort yet we are being forced into using it just like we're being forced to go metric.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Are they? WannFly wrote -40 windchill. While -40F and -40C are equal when discussing ambient temperature, are they the same when discussing windchill? Even if the windchill calculation ended up at -40 for both, the ambient temps would not be the same. If the ambient temps were both -40, then the respective calculated windchill would be different. So are they truly the same? :dunno:
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Yeah they're the same. ****ing cold!
 
Kritchlow said:
No no.... front wheel drive you do it in reverse. Hang on for the ride!!
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I had an '88 Pontiac Grand Am. I would pull the parking brake, put it in reverse and do backwards donuts in the snow.

Great for backing out of parking spots. Just pull the park brake, turn the wheel all the way left or right, reverse, and turn the car around in place...

Lots of fun..!!

Actually, for city driving in packed snow and ice, I prefer a front wheel drive.
 
Zeldman said:
I had an '88 Pontiac Grand Am. I would pull the parking brake, put it in reverse and do backwards donuts in the snow.

Great for backing out of parking spots. Just pull the park brake, turn the wheel all the way left or right, reverse, and turn the car around in place...

Lots of fun..!!

Actually, for city driving in packed snow and ice, I prefer a front wheel drive.
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Had a little 4 door Fiat in HS up in Joisey. Went into a big parking lot one night, packed snow, spun that little beeotch round and round, laughing and laughing w/ 2-3 buddies. Oh chit, what was that? Car dies....

Dummy me pushed the clutch in w/ the engine revved up. One fan blade departed, cut the battery cable and upper radiator hose, and went thru the hood, leaving a sweet gash. Yeah. But it was fun!
 
First winter in my K2500 with the diesel. A few inches of snow on the ramp, so I drive across, tail end swung out in a good power slide drift. Rooster tails of snow off the rear wheels. Ok, here I am sliding across the ramp probably 50-60 mph. I am thinking, just a little more for a more spectacular power slide across the snow giving everyone in the FBO a good show. Just a little more, a little more..... and around it goes, once, twice, thrice and almost four times around.

If I had floored it when I lost it I would have gotten some really spectacular high speed donuts in front of everyone. I learned that day how balanced new pickups really are compared to the older pickups I used to drive.
 
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