Preheat or not? First frost last night.

May double it initially, but in the long run probably saves money, especially on the paint job.

Saves on everything. Avionics, interior, plastics, everything. When I think about the wear on my outdoor plane (which we had before the hangar) and the indoor plane, it is like night and day. Airplanes belong indoors. No doubt about it.
 
Scenerio:
Plane is flown weekly, but was last flown 7 days ago. Temps have been in the 40's with rain the past three days, low-mid 30's at night, and now last night we had our first frost. Enough to scrape the windows on the car, but not to make a heavy crunch when you walk on the grass. Today's supposed to be sunny and 54* by 3pm. Plane is tied down outside, and will be in the sun all day.

I'm planning on flying today at 4pm with a freind who is in from out of town.

Would you recommend I preheat the plane with a hot-air preheater? I'm going to put it in the car just in case, and see if I can find one of those small camping propane tanks at lunch today.

just to be clear to everyone,.. i already have a propane preheater (SureFire) and I never posted any intention to want to move the plane. I get great service and there are great people at Wings.

Great weather today and tomorrow,... get out and fly :D
 
Saves on everything. Avionics, interior, plastics, everything. When I think about the wear on my outdoor plane (which we had before the hangar) and the indoor plane, it is like night and day. Airplanes belong indoors. No doubt about it.

If airplanes only lasted ten or 15 years like cars do, they would be fine outside. But when we're flying 30/40/50/60-year-old machines, indoors is definitely better.

Dan
 
Bill and Brent's Mooney is a good example of that. I forget how old the paint job is on it, but when they've told me, I couldn't believe it. The plane is gorgeous.

My plane has lived most of the past 10 years in the hangar, but the paint job is at least 15 years old, probably older, and it's showing its age. That's on the list...
 
Back
Top