Extreme cold temperature winterization

[jlunseth]

I have not inventoried the many things in the engine compartment that are not a part of or directly attached to the engine, but there are probably several other than the air/oil separator on which I learned my lesson. The brake reservoir and related stuff is probably happier if the fluid is not completely congealed, etc. I liked the earlier post about warming the entire plane in a hangar which would warm everything but it raises another issue. A few years ago we had a really excellent pilot/instructor who put on Saturday morning seminars at Modern Avionics at KFCM. He did one on cold temp ops. One of the things that stuck with me was the choice between heat soaking and cold soaking an aircraft before a cold weather flight. So, basically, icing occurs when the temps are between +5 and -15 degrees. Warmer and no ice is likely, colder and any moisture has generally already found a way to freeze in the atmosphere. So if, for example, one wanted to take off and fly through a thin layer of clouds with possible icing, which we get around here quite a bit during the winter, and the ground temps are at around freezing, warm soaking the plane in a hangar the night before would help. The airfoils would be warm at takeoff and would discourage the formation of ice. But if taking off in super cold temps and, say, climbing into the flight levels, cold soaking is preferable because having warm surfaces would melt the ice crystals onto the wings where they refreeze into icing, whereas cold surfaces would not have the same effect. I don’t have a choice to warm soak so have not practiced this alot, and the pilot/instructor was flying turbine aircraft at the time so the issue is somewhat different than what we piston pilots experience, but I thought it was worth mentioning. 

Oh, and don’t forget to bring a windshield scraper/brush and a rag. I have had frost form on the wings in International Falls at -10dF in about an hour. Even better would be a garden sprayer with TKS.

[exM20K]

11 hours ago, jlunseth said:

Even better would be a garden sprayer with TKS.

A garden sprayer with RV antifreeze would be a cheaper and environmentally safer option. 
-dan