Late Winter in Michigan

Well, I finally made it out to the airport (3BS) today.
With the 4-Runner in 4WD I managed to get within about 10 feet of the
man door. That's where those big tires dropped through the ice and
snow to the sod underneath. sigh at least the ground is still
frozen but I think we may be missing a bit of grass next spring.

At least the snow wasn't up against that door. OTOH walking across
about 16" of snow with an icy crust is interesting.

Things were as I left them. No one had stolen the Deb and the cowl on
the port side was still unfastened for the checking of the fouled
plugs.

So I jumped in, hit the switches and was greeted by...silence.
Now with a foot to two feet of snow on the ramp I hadn't planned on
going any where except to maybe warm up the engine and make sure the
plugs were no longer fouled, but I hadn't expected silence.

I probably should have brought the battery home and let it warm up out
in the shop, but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of a frozen battery
in the back seat even if it was on the floor. So, I'll take a battery
box back out tomorrow and set the battery in the warm terminal
building while I clean plugs, but I hold little hope for a battery
that has gone dead in temperatures we had over the last month.

Speaking of cold temps and a warm shop. I pulled quite a few "all
nighters" working on the G-III this past month. Well that and a sick
computer. (latest and greatest state-of-the-art dual core, high speed
system that ended up trashed due to a wayward application...even took
out the boot sectors on the drives. Now it's a month old and out
dated) Sooo... that puts me in the shop for long hours during the
coldest part of day during the coldest weather we've had in some time.
There are 11 fluorescent light fixtures, ceiling mounted in there with
each sporting two 75 watt, 8' long tubes for a total of 1650 watts. On
top of that I had to put some heat in the generator shed as the thing
just didn't want to start at those temperatures. So I put a little
automated ceramic heater out there. The shed is small and reasonably
well insulated except for the floor. I turned the thermostat all the
way down as I figured keeping it a little above freezing should be
enough.
Next day I was able to start the generator even if it was a tad chilly
in there. I then promptly forgot about it. That is until last week
when I noticed a deep depression in the snow between the shop and shed
right where I figured the heavy duty extension cord ran.

After discovering the *heavy duty* multiple outlet plug at the end of
the cord was pretty much fried I quickly replaced the little heater
and outlet plug with a single 100 watt heat lamp in a reflector and
plugged that into the cord.

Note that the heater on high (when the temps was low) would draw 1500
watts or about 12 amps. The outlet was rated for 20 amps, but with a
1500 watt heater on 24 X 7 and that 1650 watts of light on for about
12 hours a day I was drawing 40 KWH per day, not counting heat and
equipment in the shop, or gas for heating. Needless to say, last
month was a wee bit on the pricey side. I sure am glad electric rates
here, top out at just over 8 cents per KWH.

At-any-rate, (no pun intended) I hope the guy who cleans the ramp gets
mine done in the morning and the battery can be salvaged as they are
kinda difficult to find around here on a week end. I'll probably stick
that little heater under the instrument panel with the fan on and a
blanket over the cabin. OTOH the hangar doesn't have enough capacity
to run the heater AND the Tanis heater at the same time.

I think it's time to start neglecting the G-III for a while and tend
to my own proficiency and working the kinks out of the Deb.

Weather doesn't look great, but I might be able to fly around snow
storms for an hour or two if the ceiling is high enough. Looks like
2000 and 5 with occasional 1500 and 1. Breaking action...None. Eh!
sounds like good VFR although a bit drafty for most of the day and
those slippery runways make for good practice at landing at the
slowest speed possible. OTOH they don't add much wear to the tires.
then again I may have to tie the plane to the snow plow or tree so I
can do a run-up. On the positive side, if the wheels freeze due to
slush you can taxi all the way to the hangar and never notice. Of
course if the gear wells freeze shut it can be a bit of an
inconvenience.

Then too these conditions are prime for chasing ice fishermen around
on Saginaw Bay. Strong winds from 240 means a few of them may find
themselves headed for Canada.:-)) Happens every year. Fly around
out there and you will see ice fishing within 10 feet of open water.
:-)) Just remember the clearance rules.

Did I mention that not having been able to fly for over 6 weeks I'm
beginning to suffer from withdrawal?
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com