Preheating aircraft

[AlaskaAV]

For those that need to preheat your GA aircraft in the winter, how about sharing with us the equipment and any special procedures you use.

In my early days, I used a flexible hose off the exhaust of my car which blew on the engine. I covered the cowling with an old down sleeping bag.

Maybe the flight simmers would like to see just what we will go through to get upstairs.

Ernie

[jcmissionary]

Well, if we're unlucky enough to not have our plane put inside the heated hangar, we have a propane burner with a hose attached that you put in under the cowling. 10 minutes later, she'll fire right up.

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J.C. Howell
1/2 PPL
Instrument Rating student

[evh347]

Here's what we use:

Red Dragon Heater
This preheater quickly heats engines to make easy work out of cold weather engine starts. The propane gas heater generates 49,000 BTUs of heat and a 12 volt fan blows the warmed air into the engine compartment (can also be used to thaw ice). Power is supplied from either an aircraft or car battery, with no appreciable electrical drain. An optional cigarette plug power adapter is available for convenience or when the battery is hard to reach. This unit features a high limit safety control which protects against overheating and effectively shuts down the fuel should the flame go out. Complete with regulator, excess flow valve, push-button ignitor, a 5' propane hose and a 10' power cord with alligator clips for battery attachment. Featuring UL listed components, the entire unit weighs only 14 lb. and takes less than 1 cu. ft. of space. You'll need heat ducting and a propane tank (not included) to operate this unit. Truly the best heater on the market.

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[rayN5432H]

When the temps get pretty low, my flight school does one or two things.

If the plane is equipped with pre-heat, that is plugged into an outlet in the hangar to get the oil nice and warm.

In addition to or instead of that, they might put a kerosene torpedo heater near one of the air inlets. That usually does the trick.

As for me, my plane was tied-down during a night that it went into the upper 30s, but we still hadn't changed from 50W oil. That 50W was like molasses :-irks At least on a C-140, one whole side of the upper half of the cowling can open up at a time, so I opened the side with the best view of the oil tank, and turned the airplane around so the sun could shine into the engine compartment. It helped a little bit!

Ray
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Maintain thy airspeed, lest the ground rise up and smite thee.

[AlaskaAV]

As you say, a fantastic machine and one of the best in Alaska.
It is also good since you can set it away from the aircraft while heating. Still, there is nothing like an old Herman Nelson.
In your area, has any pilots experienced problems with ice forming inside the controll surfaces after trying to de-ice the wings or tail? The guys way up north ususlly don't use it for that but I am not familiar with how things are done "in the deep south". ;-)

Ernie

[lnuss]

For our Cub here in Denver, we typically just place a drop light under the cowling with blankets on top. It's amazing how warm this keeps the oil. Of course this is in a hangar (unheated), so the wind is no factor. Once in a great while it may be necessary to borrow a propane heater, but not every year.

Larry N.

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[AlaskaAV]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-12-03 AT 02:23PM (EST)[p]I didn't think your Cub sat long enough to cool down...

By the way, do you teach your students about preheating?

Ernie

[flyinggriffin]

Our club has a unheated hangar. I use a preheater when the airplane has been below 40 degrees. The club rules and lycoming instructions is 30 degrees. This means you are preheating from november to middle march usually.

We have two preheat carts that were fabricated by us. They run off of propane with 12 volt blower motors to force the air in therough the cowl intake openings. Flex hose with plugs hold the hose in the openings. We used to preheat in the hangar then bring the bird out on the line to fire up the engine. This year the FBO insurance company nixed the idea so we have to do it outside.

Seem like there is a lot of controversy about preheating. Some of the things I read about Tannis heaters and oil heaters contradicts each other. Some keep the preheat on all the time. Others say to turn it on a certain number of hours before you fly. Others say don't preheat at all!

What I do know, is that a Piper without a preheat is going to need a jump from the start cart in order to get the prop turning over fast enough to do some good.

[AlaskaAV]

I think the last time I heated a GA Piper, it was 20 below zero. A person has to really want to fly to get a plane ready. Two hours to preheat for a one hour flight.
Know what you mean about the pros and cons but we never had to go through that since it was always, regardless.
On our F-27Bs, we had to put a heater in the wheel well just as soon as the props quit turning or we would blow all kinds of seals when the temperatures were lower than 20 below. Our A models had been modified for the cold though so took no heat.
It will be interesting to see how different parts of the country use different equipment. I may be over cautious about fire, but I am very leary of propane. Electric is expensive but so is an aircraft. At least with an electric heater, it is easier to protect it with a breaker of some kind. Up north, lots of GA pilots carry a small electric generator in the trunk of their car or in a box/cage in a pickup bed to get the power from.

Ernie

[AV8nvrtd]

When I was up in Barrow, we used a propane shop heater (I think it was around 50k BTU) sitting on a cart pointing into the inlet. We also drained the oil every night and made sure the skis were on 2 by 12 boards. The plane was kept outside. We didn't have a hanger (let alone heated) to keep it in. I remember that as one of the worst winters I ever spent in Alaska. The plane Never heated in the cabin. It was miserable flying at that time. But ya gotta pay the bills!
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[rayN5432H]

Do you have a personal opinion on Tannis heaters? Our 140 has one, but we haven't used it because it is not completely attached to the oil tank (only about 20-30% of the unit is actually attached to the tank. It surely wouldn't heat the oil at all in that condition).

We were trying to think of some kind of epoxy or what-have-you that would make it stick to the tank, despite the heat. We're assuming the 'separated' condition is not the correct one.

Ray
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Maintain thy airspeed, lest the ground rise up and smite thee.

[AlaskaAV]

Sorry Ray, I am not familiar enough with the Tannis to comment on it.

We have found up north that it really doesn't take anything that attaches to the engine to do the job though.
We feel one of the things that helps the most is a very good, form fitted, down cover designed and shaped for your aircraft. Even an old Army surplus bag works. We have found using such a cover, say, over night, raises the cold soak temperatures quite a bit and will make it easier to heat no matter what you are using.

If you want to take it into autos in the north, there is nothing that I am aware of that attaches to an engine that is used. No more dipstick heaters. Some say systems like that just might change the structure of the oil due to the electricity so I suspect, if so, it would effect aircraft oil as well. Who knows. Only the circulating water heaters are used on cars and trucks.

I am familiar with the unit that Larry mentioned and it is great, easy to use and, it can be used on more than one aircraft such as a flying club.

Aren't we glad we don't have to do all this in flight sim just to get in the air?

Ernie

[AlaskaAV]

Having lived and worked for Wien at Barrow for many years, I know just how hard heating an aircraft at 20 to 30 below zero with a 20 knot wind is. With that big radial in a Beaver or even a C-185, it takes forever but at least we had the big Herman Nelsons (no more fire pots) that were, as I recall, 150,000 BTU. I did not envy the guys that had to do that but at least it was not the pilots.

Wasn't that fun draining all the oil after a full days flying?
One nice thing about going turbine was at least the cabin got heated above zero. What were you heating? In weather like that, we required the flight crews to check shoes and clothing before they were allowed to board and I am sure you did that too.

By the way, I believe all the local carriers now have heated hangers.

:-wave

Ernie

[AlaskaAV]

Check your PM...

Ernie

[flyinggriffin]

Best investment you can make is one of those new high torque starters. I forget the name right now, but we installed one on the 182RG after its starter developed a bad spot. Besides being lighter it cranks the engine over more like your car than an airplane.

I have seen folks who didn't preheat pipers and with the long battery leads and an old battery you could count landings between blades.

[AlaskaAV]

One slight problem. You overlooked the requirements of the oil.
What happens to the bearings, rings and cylinder walls while you, lets say, over crank? Suspect that some day, they might remind you at cruise altitude. You take care of the engine and it will take care of you.

Ernie

[Sonar5]

Tannis Heater. Always plugged in, always warm oil. :-)

Of course another suggestion is simply move to a warmer climate.

Folks in warmer climates never have to worry about pre-heating. :-)

Regards,
Joe :-wave



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[flyinggriffin]

Its a club rule to preheat anytime the temperature has dropped to 30 degrees overnight. If anyone ever has any doubts about the wisdom or need, all they need to do is pull a quart of oil out of the baggage compartment and try to pour it into the crankcase.

[rayN5432H]

Thanks, and we actually have a bag for the oil tank as part of the winterization kit (heaven knows how to put it on, though. And taking the cowling off in a 15 degree F hangar is no fun - but then I haven't been to Alaska).

Anyhow, the way the weather has been in western PA (and it seems most of the northeast) lately, we won't be flying again until spring (another blessing for flight sims :-)

Ray
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Maintain thy airspeed, lest the ground rise up and smite thee.

[Khirsah13]

3 techniques used here.

1) Electric oil and engine block heaters on our rental planes. Plug em in at night and they're quite toasty for the early morning rentals. We usually start plugging them in when the temp drops below 40.

2) Janky old propane/blower combo. Works fast but temp regulation can be a pain at times. Remember, kids: Careful with those propane heaters, they'll warp/melt the cowling if you've got em too hot.

3) For those that have the time and don't wanna blow $25 on a propane preheat, we'll pull the plane in the heated maintenance hangar for about an hour before flight if we have the room.

-Khir
Private ASEL
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[flyinggriffin]

They make a temperature sensor that looks like a multiple outlet plug that will switch on when it gets colder than a certain temp. Quite handy if nobody is going to be at the FBO on a Sunday night and you are going out early.

I will take a little cold for a couple of months out of the year in exchange for dodging thunderstorms on a daily basis and hurricanes or tornados.

[Khirsah13]

Yes, but those cost money, and I work for an FBO that won't buy a glycol heater because "alcohol works just fine" :-roll

-Khir
Private ASEL
"When logic and proportion
have fallen sloppy dead,
and the White Knight is talking backwards,
and the Red Queen's 'Off with her head!'
Remember what the dormouse said:
'Feed your head. Feed your head.'"
-Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit
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