lostplane900

Just wondering about flying in cold temps it's about 10 F outside right now . do you wrap the engine with tinfoil? And do i richen the engine up ? oh ya its on a escapade 61 with no engine cowl. thanks

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

10 is a bit lower then I fly in, mid or high 20s is about it here in the dead of winter. I just fatten up the high end and haven't had to mess with the low end. Those temps are for where I fly, the strip in Vegas is quite a bit warmer even in the grips of winter.

lostplane900

Ok thank you i will try that, does the engine stay warm or do you think i should wrap it with something?

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I have heard of people doing the foil wrap but I never have. I have always lived in Calif. or NV. and it just isn't even close to the cold you get. I enjoy heat, not cold. With the temps where I fly in the mid 20s other then fattening up the high end I don't have any other problems with my engines other then they don't like to fire up right away. My cure is using my power panel with the igniter turned up higher. A friend in NY told me to try using a couple drops of lighter fluid in the carb. That worked great but most my planes I can't get to the carb. Pretty fast some of the cold weather guys will start joining in on your post with pearls of wisdom like pre warming there engines with your cars tail pipe. I don't recall anyone doing the wrap but I could be wrong.

lostplane900

Ya This will be my first winter flying in the cold so ya im up for ideas. Im running omega 15% in it now. I keep everything in my garage heated until  i pull them out and fly right out the garage door and land in the yard so everything is warm from the start until i get it in the air so i dont want any suprises due to cold weather. The lake here just froze over lastnight so im planning on plowing a runway out there when it gets thick enough so im up for ideas. Thank you

jimmyjames213

My Feedback: (2)

I never had a reason to wrap the engine in tinfoil. They work fine down to 20 degrees, never tried below that. The biggest issue isn’t running the engines it is starting them, alcohol based fuel (methanol for model engines) is hard to start in the cold. Just put a few drops of grill lighter fluid, white gas (Coleman camp fuel, zippo lighter fluid) or possible gasoline (haven’t tried it but it should work) down the carb or into the glowplug hole before you start it and it should light up much easier.