National Aeronca Association Bulletin Board

Hi again, thanks for all your advice on Champ vs Chief. I am now wondering what most of you are doing for winter flying if you do not have indoor storage. What type of covers are required and what is the cost. How long does it take to uncover and cover the plane? What are you doing to pre-heat the engine? Is there a block heater that can be installed that can be plugged in? Does it matter if the wing has VG's and droop tips for covering the wings?

Hi Mark, there are several companies that make covers. Generally you're looking to spend $300+ US for a set of wing covers. Droop tips aren't a problem, but care needs to be taken when working around VG's (you can knock off a VG or cut the cover.) Here are a couple well known cover makers. Of corse you could save some money by making your own using similar material.

http://www.alaskawingcovers.com/
http://kennoncovers.com/
http://www.aircraftcovers.com/techsheets/bcit.html
http://www.cunninghamcovers.com/FRAMSET ... meset.html

As for pre-heating, it's a must. For whatever reason, the little Continentals don't like the cold. There is a thread on here showing where one of the members made an engine cover out of a sleeping bag... http://www.joea.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1306
As for heating, many people use little 500watt milk-house heaters or space heaters. Personally I never liked them because I never trusted them, so always stood next to the plane while it heated up making sure it didn't catch on fire or melt the engine cover. (3 hours standing in the cold aint fun for me anymore!) I found a simple 100watt light bulb would do the same heating, with little to no risk of fire or damage.

nkh

Hi Mark, Nathan covered the engine and wing covers, if you are planning to do winter flying get a Tanis engine preheater web site is www.tanisaircraft.com they are the best bar none, they have an oil tank heat pad and 4 one for each cylinder head heater. Plug it in and the engine is warm in all the places you need heat, there are also oil tank and intake tube covers to retain the heat once the engine is running. If you don't have electric available there are propane heater such as the Red Dragon with uses a 5 or 20 lb LP tank and 12 VDC put out really good heat and is fairly portable (can be put in the plane).
Tanis also makes engine covers but they are not cheap.

Now that winter's almost over (even if it IS 23 below and showing NO signs of melting as I type this....)

I have wing, windshield, engine, and tail covers, and I use my Refrigiwear as a prop cover. I can get it all on in less than 10 minutes, including throwing a heater under the cowling. They're a PITA, but not a huge one.

I heat everything with small (600/1500W) electric heaters. They fit under the cowl, and work great. Cost is around $20, and you'll want to buy an Arctic cord to replace the factory - they crack out.

Some significant portion of the airplanes in Fairbanks - hundreds, at least - have these things plugged in for 8 months of every year. I know of zero cases where one's caught on fire. A chunk of glowing wire encased in glass next to my carburetor would scare me more, not that a lightbulb ever really gets warm at -50....

The main purpose of preheating is to get the oil - all of it - liquid and ready to run through your oil pump. If you can spin the prop, and not that fast, they'll start. It may be their last time if there's a big frozen glob of oil in the pan. If the very bottom of the dipstick has runny oil and the prop turns freely, you're probably OK.

If it's really cold, propane won't burn. Don't rely on it.

Propane catalytic heaters will maintain a warm engine for 12H or so, but won't warm a cold engine up.

For away-from-town overnights, I use a setup a bit like onceacops last picture, but considerably smaller and lighter! All you need is an MSR stove, a cut-up soup can with enough holes to let the MSR run, one 2' section of 3" AL pipe, and a couple feet of SCAT hose, assembled roughly as shown. The whole shebang weighs well under a pound and fits in my fishing rack tube.

Great Pics! Very Cool.

nkh