Pre-heating

In article , "Charles Talleyrand"
writes:

Our FBO (who are otherwise OK people) have a new policy. They will not
allow one to leave one's airplane's preheater plugged in continously.
Instead, one must call them ahead of time and they will plug
it in for you. They charge $10 for this
service.

My FBO has the same policy though they don't charge for the plugin. They say
they have the policy because of the risk of fire. I find an hour or a little
more makes the engine feel warn to the touch. I have Tanis heaters.

Chuck

"PaulaJay1" wrote in message ...


My FBO has the same policy though they don't charge for the plugin. They say
they have the policy because of the risk of fire. I find an hour or a little
more makes the engine feel warn to the touch. I have Tanis heaters.

Do they run around and unscrew all the light bulbs on the field when they're not in
use? These heaters run very low amount of watts. Has anybody ever seen an
airplane catch fire from a block heater? As anybody ever seen a car (of which
in the permafrost sections of this country there are a lot more of) catch fire because
of a block heater?

In article , "Ron Natalie"
writes:

My FBO has the same policy though they don't charge for the plugin. They say
they have the policy because of the risk of fire. I find an hour or a
little
more makes the engine feel warn to the touch. I have Tanis heaters.

Do they run around and unscrew all the light bulbs on the field when they're
not in
use? These heaters run very low amount of watts. Has anybody ever seen an
airplane catch fire from a block heater? As anybody ever seen a car (of
which
in the permafrost sections of this country there are a lot more of) catch
fire because
of a block heater?


Ron, I agree with you. But like the mice that are quick to decide that the cat
needs a bell. Now which one of them is going the bell the cat. The owner of
the private airport where I keep my plane hangered for $100 per month has this
rule. There is no water in the hanger and no one in attendance at night. I
can't tell him he is wrong.

Chuck

My FBO has the same policy though they don't charge for the plugin. They
say
they have the policy because of the risk of fire. I find an hour or a
little
more makes the engine feel warn to the touch. I have Tanis heaters.

Are we talking about HANGARED planes here? Or tied down?

I can perhaps understand not allowing "permanent plug-ins" for tied down
planes -- after all, the cords all over the ramp are a "trip hazard", if
nothing else.

But if they are telling you that you can't leave your plane plugged in
inside your own hangar, I'd tell them to get screwed.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:16:53 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Are we talking about HANGARED planes here? Or tied down?

I can perhaps understand not allowing "permanent plug-ins" for tied down
planes -- after all, the cords all over the ramp are a "trip hazard", if
nothing else.

But if they are telling you that you can't leave your plane plugged in
inside your own hangar, I'd tell them to get screwed.
--

When I was based at ASH, my a/c was outdoors at an "electric tiedown".
These were set up by the city, and they charged a bit more for the tiedown.
Everyone left their a/c plugged in; and yes, there were extension cords as
one "post" would supply four a/c.

So far as safety from shorts, etc., all of the outlets had GFCI plugs that
would trigger if there were any electrical shorts, grounds, problems, etc.
Sometimes they would trigger for no apparent reason, but that was rare.

A Tanis install on my four cylinder Mooney (four cylinder heaters plus the
oil) draws about 300 watts. That comes to about 220 kWh/month. With
electricity at, let us say, $0.10/kWh, the cost of leaving it plugged in
all the time would be $22/month.

But if the electricity "belongs" to the FBO, there's not much one can do
about it, except take one's business elsewhere, or complain to the landlord
if they are violating the terms of their lease.


Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)

In article VxhIb.15664$xX.39639@attbi_s02, "Jay Honeck"
writes:

I can perhaps understand not allowing "permanent plug-ins" for tied down
planes -- after all, the cords all over the ramp are a "trip hazard", if
nothing else.

But if they are telling you that you can't leave your plane plugged in
inside your own hangar, I'd tell them to get screwed.

It's in the big hanger with about 10 planes. They do all the in and out.

Chuck