ORIGINAL: flynte
Well the snow is starting to come so I ordered a set of skis today for the Kadet (
http://www.greathobbies.com/products...rod_id=JADS360 ) and was wondering some of the things a person needs to do for setting up the plane for winter flying.
Some of the things I was pondering are:
Run a higher nitro fuel- I'm burning 15% now, step up to 20 or 30%?
>Should not be necessary
Go with a hotter plug- Using OS8 now, step up to an A3?
>Try the OS8, if you have problems then go to the A3
Larger battery capacity- Have 600 mah now, go up to a 1100 mah since capacity drops in cold temps
>Good idea
Some kind of heat shield for the front of engine cylinder?
>Not needed
How does the covering fair in cold temps? I have the plane covered in Ultacote, will it be brittle and break easy?
>I have no idea. "Back when", I had no problems with Ultracote or Monokote
Any other things a person needs to address for winter flight that a person can think of.
thanks
flynte
I suggest "pre-heating" the engine. Take it from a heated environment, keep it in the heated car until you are ready to fly, then go fly. When the flight is over, unless you are going to fly again right away, put the plane back in the heated car.
Bring along some lighter fluid. You MAY need to give the engine a squirt of it to get it going. Be careful with this as it burns with almost no flame.
Make sure your batteries for the transmitter and receiver are charged up and take them off charge just before you head out to the field.
A pair of "fingerless" gloves comes in handy so you can use the transmitter better.
There are probably more things, but I haven't done any winter flying for "quite a while"