At 09:50 AM 12/21/1998 -0800, you wrote: >I was out flying yesterday in the cold too, and made a couple of >observations which I wanted to talk to folks about: > >- My breath was condensing onto my windshield...I had to keep trying to wipe >it away...is there any good way of preventing this? Is it ok to use a cloth >to wipe it off? > >- I discovered that there seems to be a breeze coming in from under my seat >(?) which effectively kept my legs nicely chilled. It's the first time my >heater wasn't able to keep up. Is this normal? Where does this come from? >Any suggestions? > >- I also had difficultly starting my engine...is there such thing as a >portable engine warmer? > >Other then that, it was a be-yew-ti-ful day in the Pacific NW, with 50 NM >visibility and snow on the mountains. > >Merry holidays all, > >-Tom > > >
Up here in the cold north,(Wisconsin) I have some of the same problems.
1. Breath condensing on windshield--while taxiing I have that problem,
but
as soon as I take off it goes away. At higher speeds some air is forced
under the rubber windshield gasket which keeps the condensation away. If
yours still condenses, check to see if someone glued the windshield gasket
down. They should not have.
2. Breeze under seat--the cold air is coming in from your wing roots.
There is a large gap on each side of the main spar which can be plugged up
with flame-proof insulation. This will make a huge difference.
3. Engine starting and a portable warmer--preheating the engine will
lengthen engine life emmensely. I use a Tanis heater. Previous to that I
used a 1500 watt portable heater (in Wisconsin it is called a milk-house
heater, but I doubt it is called that anywhere else) and placed it on a
tall
stool and blew it up into the engine compartment through the open left
side
cowl, with a few blankets covering the entire engine cowling. The warm
air
left the engine compartment through the upper openings in the nose cowl,
thus warmiing the cylinders. I left it running about 1 hour for every 10
degrees below freezing. When starting the engine I would often have to
continue to prime slowly to keep the engine running until it ran on it's
own.
Syd Cohen
NC94196
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Zach Freiberg
Co-Pilot of Ercoupe NC94196
Based at KAUW(Wausau),Wisconsin
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