On Mar 8, 8:14*am, Frank Stutzman wrote:
Back in the 50's my Dad did a fair amount of back country flying
in Alaska. *The dilution of the oil with fuel was a common
practice. *But sometimes they planned badly and it suddenly got
colder than they had thought. *There were two ways of pre-heating
in this situation:

* *Un-cowl the engine. *Throw the biggest blanket/tarp/bison skin
* *available over the engine. *Build a wood fire under the engine.
* *Try to keep the fire small. *This ment stoking it every 10-15
* *minutes. *Uncomfortable in sub-zero weather.

* *Drain as much oil as possible (difficult as it was very thick).
* *Bring it inside and put it in a pot over the wood stove. *Get it
* *as hot as possible. *Dash with it back to the plane (hopefully
* *not slopping it on yourself), pour it back in and try to start
* *the plane. *

I've read stories of guys in Alaska draining their oil and then
putting it over an open fire the next AM before flight.

-Robert