I can buy 5% nitro fuel at the LHS. Should I use this for the cold weather that is coming? Should I wrap the head with some type of cover to allow the engine to come up to temperature. Any other cold flight advice is also welcome, Thanks!

Brett,
I've been flying during the "winters" here in Ok for a long time now and I never really do anything special to prep for it. We really don't get cold enough like they do up north. About the only thing I ever have to do is retune the engine once it's running. Other than that I don't do anything special.

Ken

Use whatever fuel you usually use. There's really nothing special you need to do except to keep YOURSELF warm. I find that if the engine doesn't want to start, I can set the plane so the engine is under the exhaust pipe on my car. The hot exhaust from the running car engine will warm up the airplane engine.

Just don't forget it's under there!!! Mike hasn't done this, but I do know of others that have backed over a plane that they forgot was there!!!! [:@]

Ken

SOUNDS like something I would do! [X(]

I fly all winter and really don't do anything special. I use 10% and a electric starter. Ken, I see you are in Lawton OK. I went to school at NMMI in Roswell NM. Played some football in Lawton (years ago) I think then it was a pretty rough town as I recall.

Me too. I haven't ran over a plane, but I did run over a wing for my sailplane!!! [:'(]

Ken

Hey! Gene is from Roswell! (That explains a LOT )

I'v been chasing them little lights for years. Gonna catch one, one of these days

Lawton is not that bad now, it even has a billion wind turbines now too! Lots of pretty camp grounds.

Yep, we even had Mike Rowe do an episode of Dirty Jobs at those wind turbines!!!!

Ken

I live in New Jersey. We ain't famous for anything.. xcept Frank Sanatra... Mike Rowe drives right through when he comes near here. He even pays the tolls!!!! [:@]

sometimes you need field box glow starters because the small rechargeable can not get glow plugs hot enough to start. also lighter fluid is good to prime the engine with. once the engine gets started it remains warm enough to work well, may be a little tweaking but nothing too special

All good replies but best thing of all is move down here. (FLORIDA) haa

but if I do that, then I will have trouble with hanging chads. You know how hard it is to fly with your chads hangin.

Brett - Really depends on how cold you are flying in. The picture I uploaded was my last flight of the season here in the Yukon, and it was about +3 deg C. I am using 10% and really nothing special to prep for that. When it gets about 25 below zero Cent, the engines become hard to start and will only run at full throttle. They have to be warm and you have to be quick to get them going.

I have read of where you can use a can, like pepsi, cut it open and wrap the top of the cylinder and then use a hose clamp to keep the engine from loosing too much heat. You do have to watch that the enigne does not overheat.

I was also going to try aluminum tape to help keep the heat in as well.

The only thing is that after you get it going, the wind from the prop will freeze your hand while you adjust the needle for the flight. And if you wear glasses..............
Well I almost lost my viper on that day as well. Made a high speed pass and took a deep breath, my glasses fogged up and I lost sight of my plane for only a few seconds. Cold weather acts like a turbocharger and the Viper was really ripping. Took us a while to find it and it was a really wild experinece flying a RC plane for about 15 seconds without seeing it. Kinda like blind flying. My flying buddy spotted it halfway to the mountains in the background of the picture, heading straight down[X(], we did get the plane back for a safe landing, and with the addition of anti fog on my glasses made two more flights that day!

Here it only gets down into the low 30s so no big deal, thing is it can happen over night, like A couple of weeks ago. It was 83 and I was flying, the next day it was 36 and our engines are tuned for over 100, the next morning it was in the mid 60s?? This time of year it is A small problem to get the engines in correct tune so you don't have to dink with the needel valves. Everyones engines are hard to start the first time in the morning now. I learned last year, all my glow engines need to have the high end turned out four clicks, no big thing, I just run them fat until the weather warms up again next spring. For early morning my friend from NY had me start putting in A few drops of lighter fluid into the carbs and they fire right up. Most of my engines I can't get to the carb to do this so I just keep A good charge on my starter battery and roll them over until they start.
Gene
NM Gene, what little lights are you speaking of???

Looks like the picture, you caught one of them little suckers from Roswell.

Little???????????????????????????????????

Speaking of wind turbines... We may be losing our field to one []

They've got one going up right about where the turn to base-leg would be.

Won't know for sure till it's erected if it's going to be a major problem or if we can avoid it.

Mike,
Wow, that stinks. Even if you can avoid it the damn thing will probably cause all kinds of ugly turbulence. It's bad because you guys have a really nice field there.

Ken

For starting in cold weather, get a can of model diesel fuel and use this to prime the engine before trying to start it. Just a few drops in the carb is all you need.

If you are Scots like me, decant it into a plain bottle and when others marvel at your first flick starts on the coldest days, offer them a prime with the words; " Och aye; there will be a small charrrrge."

Sorry to hear that, You are a good pilot, just time out your flights to fly thru the blades just think of it as minature golf for your plane

We get those cold spells with a coating of snow followed by a quick thaw. So, we get lots of mud on and around our field. The center of the runway, which is, by the way, a full-scale runway, has a crest to it. So, if we are careful, the only part that gets muddy is our shoes.. at times up to our ankles.. But, we've been known to fly with skids on the hard packed snow.. if it stays cold enough, that is.

Gene.. you talking about THOSE lights?

I heard that Lawton was actually a suburb of Roswell. Is that right, Ken?

CGr

CG, you asking MI Gene or LV Gene?? Guess it doesn't mater much, we both keep seeing those lights!!