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The WX here was pretty bad overnight as well. I think there was fog well below ILS mins.

Just came across this: http://wavy.com/2015/03/04/communication-lost-with-small-plane-heading-to-orf/

What else would I need to purchase to make the HSI work?

Unfortunately my CHT gauge is inop at the moment. I took a measurement of the ambient temp around the cylinder with a thermometer though and it was around 47 on both sides.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll get it resolved.

UPDATE: My poor man's engine heater worked! Since every single store around here is sold out of heaters, I went ahead with 2 150watt bulbs stuffed into the cowl flaps. They ran all night with a blanket over the engine cowling and kept the oil temp at 45 degree. Here is what I did today: -fuel pump on -Pumped throttle 3 times -pump off -rotated the prop 3 times -pumped throttle 2 more times -wait 30 seconds -crank The engine started within 3 turns on the first try. Keep in mind the temp outside was 16 degrees today. I'm still planning on installing a sump heater at the end of the year during the annual but this will do for now.

Just ordered one. $220 for a lead acid battery charger is just absurd this day in age no matter how advanced they claim it to be.

Are you referring to the black hose? May I ask what exactly is in poor condition? I ask because the plane went though a through inspection/annual recently and this was not pointed out. I'll take a closer look at it tomorrow. I also was not aware that there should be a clamp there...I'll bring that up to my mechanic. Thanks.

Not cracked...it is a seam as Marauder said.

I understand that is the main selling point but why doesn't the same occur to my expensive sealed AGM battery if left on the battery tender?

For now, it is just to bring it back up to a full charge I do plan on leaving it plugged in.

UPDATE: Due to the weather, my shop is still closed so I went and opened up the cowling and had a look for myself. I did not see any obvious damage besides some soot on the under side of the engine cowling where the drain is located. I also had a look behind the air filer but did not see anything that resembles fire damage. I'm hoping the mechanic can come see it tomorrow. Here are some pictures.

Before I go and spend $200+ for a "special airplane battery charger", I thought I'd come on here and ask whether I can use my car battery charger/tender instead. My Mooney has a Gill sealed battery in it at the moment (see attached picture). Now, i'm aware that if I google the question, the first website to pop up is batteryminder and of course, they don't want us charging our airplane batteries with anything but their expensive product. Call me crazy, but it sounds like nothing more than a sales pitch. I don't know how old the current battery is but with it being as cold as it is, I don't want to leave it sitting without a charger on it.

What is this "shower of sparks"?

Well, I wish I could have gone and tried some of these techniques yesterday but i'm sure I'll end up waiting at least a week if not longer for the shop to take a look at the damage. I do wonder about the wear and tear that cold temps can create on startup but then again, like Goterminal said, my car engine should have worn out by 100K miles since they experience 2 to 3 cold starts in similar temps each day. The same can be said for the planes parked at the flying club that do not have any kind of engine heating capability and they operate in the same weather all the time. I can't image they are tearing the engine down every 500 hours as a result. I will have the mags rebuilt during the annual at the end of the year along with the carb. I don't think either has been done in at least 10 years. The pistons only have about 50 hours on them STOP(2005). I think i'm going to need a new air filter at the very least along with some new scat tubing. I don't know if the fire got hot enough to melt any of the O-rings in the carb but I will need to wait and see. No matter what, I am going to be extremely cautious from here on out with the start.

Hopefully someone will chime in but I think the fire may have started inside the air box as a result of backfire. The reason why I think this is due to the smoke coming directly out of the air filter. Hopefully I can get an answer next week of what may have happened but this is what I am suspecting at this point.

Sean, How much do you lean by? I will def hand turn the prop a few times. I have read that on several other forums as well.

I had always heard that carbureted engines are hard to start in the winter but I never imagined it would be this hard. I picked this plane up in Portland, ME on a 26 degree day but they had preheat available and it started without much trouble. I also remember flying Cessna 172's years ago and starting them in similar temps outside where they were normally parked and never had an issue. I have been scouring the internet today to find the correct technique and I have found many. Until I can find one that works for mine, i'm going to be on edge each time I attempt to start it. What do you guys recommend for an electric sump heater? Is this something that can be easily(cheaply) installed? When operating from home, I plan to use another self-engineered heater but it will not be practical away from home.

So after a month in the shop, I got my mooney back yesterday. It was in the shop for several small issues that were resolved. The temp was about 46 degrees yesterday and I figured it was good enough to skip preheat. I tried to start it myself with the standard procedure of 3 pumps to prime the engine but did not have any luck after several attempts. So I ended up calling the mechanic over and he recommended I pump the throttle a couple time as the engine is cranking. Sure enough, it worked and the engine came to life. We ended up taking her out for a quick flight and all was well when I landed. Then came today with a planned trip up to NY. The temp today was 26 degrees when we arrived at the airport. My plan was to have the FBO preheat the engine since I do not own a preheater myself. It turned out the FBO has no capability to preheat. So, against my better judgment, I decided to go ahead and try a cold start. I followed the same procedure as yesterday by priming it 3 times and pumping the throttle some as the engine cranked. Once again I tried several times and the engine would fire but not start. After having no luck, I decided to put the plane back in the hangar. When I got out, I noticed there was fuel dripping on the front tire from a small drain in the cowling. I figured it was overflow from the carb from trying so many times. Before pushing the plane back in, I though let's try just one more time. Apparently this was a bad idea. I tried once again but I had no luck. I then got out and as I walked to the front of the plane, I noticed smoke coming from the air filter. Soon after that I saw flames under the cowling in between the nose gear doors. I immediately called 911, grabbed a fire extinguisher(empty) and called the FBO guys over to help. The fire must have lasted for about a minute but extinguished itself. So, now I am trying to figure out what I did wrong. I must admit I have very little experience with carbureted piston engines so I was following the advice of the shop. Obviously I will not be flying it until they look and see what needs repair. However, I do want to know if it should be this difficult to start in the cold. If so, how in the world do you take this plane anywhere when you can't event count on the engine to start if the temps drop below 40. I kind of wish I had a fuel injected mooney right now. I am definitely got to get a preheater as well before I fly again. It was a very scary situation that luckily did not go south.

Haha...sorry but I just had to laugh when I read that. I can imagine my wife catching me in an attempt to make the prop rotate by blowing on it and telling me I'm nothing more than a child. Truth is, she would probably be right.

I'll take it if it doesn't go through for some reason.

Sounds good...I'll try to make it over on Sunday.

Great...looks like it worked out for everyone then.

Do you mind me asking if you got close to your asking price?

I'll be across the runway, hating my life away inside a very miserable building watching you guys flying around. My mooney might be on the ramp though.