To cold to fly....

Vance Breese said:
I am good down to about 30 degrees f.

Below that and I find my lips don’t work well for the radio calls and I can’t feel the clicks on the transponder. The transponder is hard to read when I am dressed for the cold.

My wife draws the line at about 35 degrees f.

I do not have a heater although I do have an electric vest.
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30 deg F in Nipomo? Seriously?? :eek:
 
GRG55 said:
30 deg F in Nipomo? Seriously?? :eek:
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More than once it has been below 30 degrees going over the San Marcos Pass near Santa Barbara.

As you can see in the pictures there is snow on the hills above Upland in January.

These are both places I need to use my radio and transponder.

Thirty degrees along the route is my limit for take-off. I have encountered temperatures into the low twenties while flying.
 

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bluerooster said:
Yes, our Pyraneese Loved the cold. she was perfectly happy between -12 and +12.
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Neighbors in a previous town had indoor Great Pyrenees, and they loved to sleep in the yard while it was snowing. Every now and then the dogs would stand up, shake, chase around, then make a new nest in the snow and lay down happily for another nap.
 
Flying open cockpit airplanes, 40F is my lower limit, and that's a short flight, maybe twice around the pattern just to get my "fix", anything more and I can't feel my fingers by the time I land. But I'll happily go backpacking and camp out in 10F or colder...
 
GBSoren said:
At what point do you just say it's to cold? When I was doing my flight training my CFI didn't like to go when it was below about 20 F, said he thought it was harder on the air cooled engines. The 10 day forecast here is southern MN only has 1 day with highs about 20, lot's of days the highs will be around 0.

Just curious what others "comfort level" is with the cold.
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Wool is your friend. It keeps you warm even if it gets wet and can actually help keep you cool when it's hot. I prefer 'smart wools' that aren't scratchy. They cost a bit of coin but it's a great investment.
 
Hank S said:
Neighbors in a previous town had indoor Great Pyrenees, and they loved to sleep in the yard while it was snowing. Every now and then the dogs would stand up, shake, chase around, then make a new nest in the snow and lay down happily for another nap.
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Great Pyrenees - the only dog ya gotta roll up the window to keep them from leaning in to say hello.
 
TommyG said:
It's not too bad when I sit in my car with the heat watching my student pre flight.
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Were you my instructor?? About 1977? I would be busting the tires out of the ice, scraping 3" of rime below 6" of crusted snow from the airplane, running a propane cowl heater, heating up frosted plugs, battery boost, preheated oil, finally get it going by sunup and my instructor would hop in all comfortable from the car or fbo, sipping his hot coffee. Or maybe you're all like that!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Were you my instructor?? About 1977? I would be busting the tires out of the ice, scraping 3" of rime below 6" of crusted snow from the airplane, running a propane cowl heater, heating up frosted plugs, battery boost, preheated oil, finally get it going by sunup and my instructor would hop in all comfortable from the car or fbo, sipping his hot coffee. Or maybe you're all like that!
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What’s yer point?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Were you my instructor?? About 1977? I would be busting the tires out of the ice, scraping 3" of rime below 6" of crusted snow from the airplane, running a propane cowl heater, heating up frosted plugs, battery boost, preheated oil, finally get it going by sunup and my instructor would hop in all comfortable from the car or fbo, sipping his hot coffee. Or maybe you're all like that!
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Uh, what's wrong with that? :popcorn:
 
Anything less than about -10F with wind gets a little unpleasant. If it’s -5F, sunny and no wind - that’s not a bad winter day around here though! Cold winter days mean great performance and fairly thin layers that can easily be flown through without icing concerns. As long as you dresss appropriately, winter flying can be some of the smoothest and most enjoyable of all.
 
Coldest this year was around -35f ambient. Has been a pretty warm year.

Preheat for a few hours, hit the preoiler to get the oil pressure up and the engine fires right up, just make sure to get the engine up to temp before take off. Most piston aircraft oil is nothing more then sludge at those temps when cold.

Biggest factor is wings frosting up.
 
I heard (or was more likely told) that below 20F was really hard on the gyro's. That unless you had a pre-heat for the avionics or interior, that it wasnt recommended. Any truth?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Were you my instructor?? About 1977? I would be busting the tires out of the ice, scraping 3" of rime below 6" of crusted snow from the airplane, running a propane cowl heater, heating up frosted plugs, battery boost, preheated oil, finally get it going by sunup and my instructor would hop in all comfortable from the car or fbo, sipping his hot coffee. Or maybe you're all like that!
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Did Mr. Miyagi paint the fence, the house, sand the deck? Or did Danialson???
 
Stewartb said:
View attachment 58767 My dog and I walk 3-5 miles every day. All her life she’s been fine down to zero. At zero she’s all about going but at minus 1? She stands outside on three legs, alternating which foot she holds in the air. It’s funny as hell. She turns 11 in a few days and we just got home from our walk. She sleeps more than she used to but there’s no slowing her down when she’s awake!
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Gotta get the good booties

https://dogbooties.com/
 
My moms Akita has been loving the single digit temps we were having earlier.
 
Was just wondering this today as well given the OAT on the ground here today.

Former rental FBO (her in MN) didn’t dispatch below zero.

Now that I’m an owner...Heated hangar for preflight, remote controllable engine heater, and good cabin heat mean I’ll go pretty cold if I have somewhere to go, I think the coldest takeoff so far was -15F or so on a return home. Of course with more attention paid to clothing, and arrangements at the destination — is there a place to plug in the engine heater, and/or option for a hangar deice if there’s frost? Cool plugs go in immediately to preserve heat. Any forecast precip during the stopover usually means a cancelled flight.

Fun flying, I don’t go when the temp is demotivating. I’ll probably brave the cold this week for a burger run or county tour, since I haven’t been up since thanksgiving due to work schedule.
 
In my drafty non-heated Pitts I've done ~0F / -20C for half an hour or so of aerobatics. Warms you up a bit, but you're so snug and can't move much, so that's where most of the cold comes from, getting your blood vessels stuck. That plus the wind you get blowing on your neck.

In a Cessna/Piper with heat, much below that is still OK.
 
I've flown in below zero F conditions but that was over a decade ago, when I was a lot more gung ho than I am today. (It also wasn't my own plane that I was flying.) Today -10C ambient is about the coldest I will have the plane pulled out for a fun flight, and at that temperature I will not only preheat the engine, but the avionics as well. Colder than that, I would rather not fly - and not just for my comfort, but also to avoid stress on things like avionics, displays, gyros, and what the other poster called "little things", minor mechanical stuff like door locks and plastic parts.
 
So here’s a though I just had as I sit in the FBO waiting for a CFI on this 9F day.

Is there any point in sumping the tanks when it’s this cold? Not like any water is going to come out.
 
Don’t sump tanks unless you want the jam the quick drain open. Make sure the gascolater is warm before you drain that, too. Isopropyl will keep the ice under control.
 
charheep said:
I heard (or was more likely told) that below 20F was really hard on the gyro's. That unless you had a pre-heat for the avionics or interior, that it wasnt recommended. Any truth?
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BUMP - because I'm interested in the answer.
 
Went up early w/ a student this morning, around 28*. Stubborn 152 (tied down outside) but finally got her spinning. Find out later they have a portable preheat propane-fired cart that does the job in about 10 minutes. So I got that working for me next time, which is nice.

so-i-got-that-goin-for-me-which-is-nice.jpg
 
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Coldest flight this season has been +4F when I started the plane coming from -12F the night before. Enclosed but unheated hangar. Tannis heater plugged in overnight with cowl plugs and cowl flaps closed. As soon as I arrive I start pre-heating the cabin with a small ceramic tip-switch heater. Then I preflight and get things ready. I don't leave it unattended when heating the cabin. I think I could do this whole ordeal about another 10-15 degrees colder and then the cabin pre-heat might not be enough to warm up the panel.
 
charheep said:
I heard (or was more likely told) that below 20F was really hard on the gyro's. That unless you had a pre-heat for the avionics or interior, that it wasnt recommended. Any truth?
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Yes it can be hard on the gyros. In temps less than "0" I have heard the gyros howling like an old air raid siren until they warm up. But I have never heard "not recommended for temps below 20 degrees f".

I have also seen oil pressure gauges not move off of "0" pressure because the oil in the line is frozen.

Since I was flying for a living, I wasn't going to cancel a flight just because it is -20f outside.
 
charheep said:
I heard (or was more likely told) that below 20F was really hard on the gyro's. That unless you had a pre-heat for the avionics or interior, that it wasnt recommended. Any truth?
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When I get to the hangar, I turn on the little ceramic heater on the floor of the cabin while I preflight. By the time I'm finished, the cabin and instruments are nice and warm.
 
murphey said:
When I get to the hangar, I turn on the little ceramic heater on the floor of the cabin while I preflight. By the time I'm finished, the cabin and instruments are nice and warm.
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We do the exact same thing. Works out really well. When it is extra cold I take some time to go to the FBO and use the facilities, chat, etc.
 
ChrisK said:
We do the exact same thing. Works out really well. When it is extra cold I take some time to go to the FBO and use the facilities, chat, etc.
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Now here is the question....how long do you dare leave it unattended? I do the same, quick trip over to the building the check wx, use bathroom, etc. But after about 5 minutes my mind starts wondering about that cheap little heater.

For those that pre-heat the cabin I was wondering how big of a ceramic heater you use?
 
Sinistar said:
Now here is the question....how long do you dare leave it unattended? I do the same, quick trip over to the building the check wx, use bathroom, etc. But after about 5 minutes my mind starts wondering about that cheap little heater.

For those that pre-heat the cabin I was wondering how big of a ceramic heater you use?
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It bothers me every single time I do it, so I do not do it often.

The heater can is not large. I will grab the info and post it here.
 
When I've done this I test the tip switch first, then yes, after doing my pre-flight I will sometimes leave it running for a quick trip to the bathroom and such. I have even left the airport briefly, though I don't like to do that.
 
It’s too cold when I try to take a leak by the plane and it won’t come out of my fly.
 
Stewartb said:
I've never used a heater in my airplane interiors. I park outdoors in Alaska and I fly in winter. My gyros and instruments continue to work fine.
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I did this for many years also. The gyros were pretty noisy when cold and I suppose their lives were shortened some, but they seemed to last pretty much as expected, 5-10 years between failures.
 
Sinistar said:
Now here is the question....how long do you dare leave it unattended? I do the same, quick trip over to the building the check wx, use bathroom, etc. But after about 5 minutes my mind starts wondering about that cheap little heater.

For those that pre-heat the cabin I was wondering how big of a ceramic heater you use?
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Variable up to 1,500 Watts I think. It has thermostat and tip switch so I don’t worry about it.
 
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