how cold
 

how cold of a air tempature can you fly without worring about engine stalling or the electonics acting up.

RE: how cold
 

I've flwon in the upper 30's and my hands have froze before my plane had any problems. [sm=idea.gif]

RE: how cold
 

I have flown in the upper 20's (no thats not celsius). But dress warm!!!!

Brad

RE: how cold
 

I worry about my engine stalling regardless. :D

I've flown to -10º, but was more worried about the Monokote than the electronics. They're solid state and, allowing for the batteries to be a bit draggy, are unaffected by temperatures you could stand exposing your thumbs to. The covering, however, seems to become very brittle. We fly on January 1st regardless, and usually have several winter "Chili" flys throughout.

RE: how cold
 

> "We fly on January 1st regardless, and usually have several winter "Chili" flys throughout. " < now thats just crazy talk!!! [X(]

RE: how cold
 

we have jan 1st fly days too, irregaurdless of the weather. And we fly EVERY thursday if its not raining, or way too windy. Just put some water floats or snow skiis on your plane and have a ball !

RE: how cold
 

I can't comment on the state of the glow engines in the cold but my glider electronics seem fine at 7 degrees F and 20 MPH winds.

RE: how cold
 

Hi!
I have flown at -21 degrees Celisus ...brrrrr! My Futaba S6 servos where a little slow at that temp ...but worked...this was 30 years ago.

RE: how cold
 

I used to fly a lot during winter-time some years ago. Several times I flew at temperature below 0 F. There are a couple of things to consider if you are trying to push the low temperature limit:

1) You need make sure you are warmly dressed and well protected against wind.
2) Use a transmitter mitt with a couple of hand warmers inside. Once you tried it, you can't live without it...
2) RX battery capacity will be reduced if the batteries gets cold.
3) I found I had to degrease the gear boxes of my servos in order to make them move with authority. Instead of grease I used a light oil. Check that the control linkages are moving freely when cold.
4) Nylon and/or plastic control horns and clevises get brittle at very low temperatures (do not ask how I know this). Substitute with metal parts.
5) Mix a couple of percent of gasoline in your glow fuel. This will allow the engine to run a little bit hotter than is usually the case.
6) Get a bottle of car engine "starter gas" to prime your engine before starting. It is very helpful when starting a cool engine.
7) Use a fuel with synthetic oil. If castor oil is used the engine will not turn freely if allowed to cool down.

The transmitter and its battery can often be kept fairly warm using a mitt with handwarmers, but the receiver and its battery will get cold fairly soon. Becase the electronics is usually consumer grade and not guaranteed to work below 30 F it is a good idea to test the equipment on the ground after letting it cool down to the lowest temperature you expect to fly in. Better safe than sorry...

Edit:
I forgot one important thing. If you take a very cold object inside a warm car or room there will be condensation that may cause damage (I learned this the hard way). The solution I found is as simple as it is effective, before taking your Tx inside, put it in a plastic bag and seal it while still outside. Let it warm up for a couple of hours before opening the plastic bag. In order to protect the Rx from condensation I found that the simplest solution was to put it inside a small plastic bag togheter with some small bags of moisture absorbing silica-gel.

/Red B.

RE: how cold
 

I have fown in about 15 F and my plane was fine, but I froze my fingers off! It was like trying to play the piano when your hads are frozen, it doesn't work too well. So to solve the problem I made myself a Tx Glove like is mentioned above. It keeps my hads plenty warm allong with the TX and batteries. It also doesn't restrict your fingers like regular goves do. I made mine out of 12oz cotton duck shell, fleese, and synthetic stuffing, it works great! The only problem is that the window sometimes fogs up, but that doesn't matter too much. Here is a pic. It's not pretty, but it works great:D

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Over in the 1/2A forum there is a thread called Grace, its the name of a plane DF is building and he flew it in 10 degree weather,,he said he'd have to scrape the exhaust residue off with a spatula!![X(]...oh there is a video too....LT-40 that is a cool idea, but too cold for me...Rog

RE: how cold
 

Here's a video of me landing on a frozen lake in Minnesota - Feb 2003

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/r...ids/Landing.rm

It was sunny, but it wasn't very warm

RE: how cold
 

G'day Mate,
Engines don't stall, but wings do.

RE: how cold
 

"Stall --- if an engine stalls or you stall it, it stops because there is not enough power or speed to keep it going" (Longman's Dictionary of Contemporary English). Yes, actually, engines do stall occasionally.

RE: how cold
 

Minn.. that was pretty neat. Is that a lake that is used as a runway in normal circumstances... or a road or something?

I bought a pair of ski's for my Wildstick 40 last year, but we never had any snow to try them out with. This year, so far, it's been record breaking warm here in NJ. Very few days below freezing, so it may not happen again this year. But, rather than travel to up-state NY or Minn, I will just wait another year to try it out.. :D

DS.

RE: how cold
 

One thing i notice in the cld is that you end up having the idle i little higher so that the engine wont stop. so your rpm is higher and the proop becomes more eddective in the cold

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RE: how cold
 

G'day Mate,
When refering to flying, engines stop & wings stall!!!!!
Saves soooooo much confusion.

RE: how cold
 

i live in england and we hardly ever get any snow and if we do its only about 2 inches i wish we had allot of snow!

RE: how cold
 

I've busted through snow drifts at -20 F. Insulated coveralls, a mongo mitt, and a few Grabber MyCoal heat generaters placed in strategic places (including by the battery in the plane). Floats and 40 size stick with a 46FX are a blast with 2 and 3 foot drifts to roll over...and through.

RE: how cold
 

You can buy little hand warming packs that use oxidizing iron as a heating agent, no flame, no odor, no mess. They last several hours and I use them in my gloves when I fly in Winter. However I have also tucked one away in the fuselage and it indeed kept the insides warm. I have reservations about recommending but I don't believe it will harm anything as long as it is secured properly and kept away from direct contact with equipment.

RE: how cold
 

Just had the little Aero Ace out tonight in about 15F weather and snow. Plus, it was night in a parking lot and she flew great through a full 10 minute + flight. It's the only way to fly a plane in Alaska for awhile. Do dress warm with some good gloves though!

RE: how cold
 

the Aussie is correct , do not refer to engines as "stalling".
if it is very cold expect some tranition problems from long idle to full power.like on a long shallow approach. wrapping some aluminum foil around cylinder will help.thin gloves will keep fingers at least from frezing & still give some feel