Cold Weather Winter Flying Q's

What is HEET? Thanks.

Automobile gas line deicer. Some say Minnesotans drink the
stuff......!

Really HEET is not needed here anymore with our mandatory gasahol.

Beware there are two versions. Be sure to get deicer only with
isopropyl alcohol. Actually to be legal, you should use aviation
grade isopropyl alcohol. but I've never seen the stuff.

If you are using jet fuel for an MU-2 this doesn't apply. I don't
know what they use.

Mike
MU-2

wrote:

What is HEET? Thanks.


Automobile gas line deicer. Some say Minnesotans drink the
stuff......!

Really HEET is not needed here anymore with our mandatory gasahol.

Beware there are two versions. Be sure to get deicer only with
isopropyl alcohol. Actually to be legal, you should use aviation
grade isopropyl alcohol. but I've never seen the stuff.

I used Heet once. Had my shiny newly overhauled Cardinal about 2 weeks.
Poured in a can of Heet into the tank. Gummy blue crap came out the
fuel drain. Turns out Heet removes the blue dye from 100LL.

wrote in message
om...
What is HEET? Thanks.

Automobile gas line deicer. Some say Minnesotans drink the
stuff......!

Really HEET is not needed here anymore with our mandatory gasahol.

Beware there are two versions. Be sure to get deicer only with
isopropyl alcohol. Actually to be legal, you should use aviation
grade isopropyl alcohol. but I've never seen the stuff.

If you are using jet fuel for an MU-2 this doesn't apply. I don't
know what they use.

Mike
MU-2

I have a Helio Courier too, but mostly I was just interested in what it was
particularly since the context suggested that it was some widely availible
product to remove water from fuel. They use a additive called Prist to
remove water from jet fuel and also to prevent microbes from growing in the
fuel. What is the other version of HEET made from and what is it used for?
Diesel?

Mike
MU-2

Snow How Deep Before Ski's Are Needed?

In the NE, it doesn't take much more than an inch before you're in
trouble. However, very few people use skis. They plow the runway
instead.

At 7B3 Hampton NH, the plowing is done in a racetrack oval with the
east side being the runway and the west side the taxiway. The
"infield" is for ski planes if anyone is so equipped.

Our problem is more with ice than with snow. Plowing an open space
exposes it to sun, and of course you don't salt a grass field, so ice
forms and is difficult to get rid of--basically, it takes a good thaw.
Landing and taking off aren't the problem; taxiing is, especially on
the turns (I learned to switch to left magneto to slow down for the
turns) and in the wind (I was blown sideways several feet on one
occasion, very nearly into the snowbank).

As a matter of policy, the airport here doesn't rent the Cubs when the
air temp is below 20F.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

"NW_PILOT" wrote in message ...
I may have to go to the Regina, SK, CA/Minnesota area this winter for 2
months.

First Is Snow How Deep Before Ski's Are Needed? Ware to obtain ski's for a
cessna 150?

Best Type of Oil Heater?

Should One Use a Cowl Warmer?

I Notice in the manual something about a winterization Kit Can I
install/uninstall it my self? Can you still buy the winterization kit? If so
ware is the best place to buy?

Any Tips For Landing on Ice And Snow!

Aside from the many good hints/tips you are getting, here are few
more. Make sure you are either wearing on have on board, WARM clothes
in the event of an engine failure and you end up freezing to death
while waiting for help!
When you taxi, the brake rotors will heat up and any blowing snow that
hits them will melt. When you do your run up, the brakes may freeze
and you can have a problem getting them unstuck. Same can happen when
you take off. when you touch down again, anticipate a lurch as one
wheel breaks lose before the other. May nothappen but I saw if often
enough in Canada and Norther Minnesota. The only time I ever saw a
C-150 leave a contrail was in GPZ in the pattern! OAT was about 0f.
Getting some preheat into the cockpit will help the windscreen defrost
and more importantly will warm the gyros and instruments so they will
not bind and cause premature wear and tear or total malfunction.
Ol Shy & Bashful

Any Extra Pre-Flight Inspections Needed For Extreme Cold Weather

Any other useful tips for that type of flying gladly accepted.

On 5 Nov 2004 05:15:55 -0800, (SelwayKid) wrote:

Make sure you are either wearing on have on board, WARM clothes
in the event of an engine failure and you end up freezing to death
while waiting for help!

My instructor liked to say: "Remember, every time you go out for a
crosscountry flight, you are volunteering for an overnight camping
trip."

I have not yet switched over to winter flying clothes. Happily, in the
Cub, there is not much difference between what you wear as PIC and
what you'd want to wear in the woods.

I don't carry snowshoes, but I do carry a cell phone. That's to call
911 and tell them to send the local snowmobile club after me

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

On 5 Nov 2004 05:15:55 -0800, (SelwayKid) wrote:

When you do your run up, the brakes may freeze
and you can have a problem getting them unstuck.

My first snowy weather flight was also my first solo rental. It was a
day to remember. The airport owner was plowing the taxiway toward the
downwind end of the runway, so I decided to cut across the unplowed
section between me and the runway. After all, I would have driven
through it in my car without hesitating. But the tail came up, and I
was stuck. The owner (the owner!) had to come along, tell me to shut
down the engine, turn the plane, and give me a prop.

Then I proceeded to have the opposite experience of what you relate.
While doing the runup, the braked tires weren't sufficient to hold me
in place, so I slid up against the unplowed section again. Happily I
was able to turn the plane with the rudder and didn't require the
owner's services again.

That was five years ago, and every time I meet the owner, I still
imagine him thinking: "Oh yeah, the fool who tried to taxi through
snow."

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

Cub Driver wrote in message . ..
On 5 Nov 2004 05:15:55 -0800, (SelwayKid) wrote:

When you do your run up, the brakes may freeze
and you can have a problem getting them unstuck.

My first snowy weather flight was also my first solo rental. It was a
day to remember. The airport owner was plowing the taxiway toward the
downwind end of the runway, so I decided to cut across the unplowed
section between me and the runway. After all, I would have driven
through it in my car without hesitating. But the tail came up, and I
was stuck. The owner (the owner!) had to come along, tell me to shut
down the engine, turn the plane, and give me a prop.
************************************************** ****
Dan
I've seen aircraft that taxied too fast over those snowplow humps and
bent the nose gear or got the prop. I carried kitty litter on the
aircraft to sp[rinkle on the ramp so my pax didn't slip and bust their
a#ss. Also used it one time to avoid slipping while I propped a twin
Beech. Carried it in the car to help me out of slick spots too.....
More than once I've been on slick ramps or runup areas where the
brakes wouldn't hold against 1700 RPM and I had to do a rolling runup.
Lots of winter stories about flying up on the Canada border between
GPZ, International Falls and Winnipeg and down into the MSP area. Lots
of severe winter weather and temps that went to -60f. brrrrrr.......
Ol Shy & Bashful

Then I proceeded to have the opposite experience of what you relate.
While doing the runup, the braked tires weren't sufficient to hold me
in place, so I slid up against the unplowed section again. Happily I
was able to turn the plane with the rudder and didn't require the
owner's services again.

That was five years ago, and every time I meet the owner, I still
imagine him thinking: "Oh yeah, the fool who tried to taxi through
snow."

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

"NW_PILOT" wrote in message ...
I may have to go to the Regina, SK, CA/Minnesota area this winter for 2
months.

First Is Snow How Deep Before Ski's Are Needed? Ware to obtain ski's for a
cessna 150?

Best Type of Oil Heater?

Should One Use a Cowl Warmer?

I Notice in the manual something about a winterization Kit Can I
install/uninstall it my self? Can you still buy the winterization kit? If so
ware is the best place to buy?

Any Tips For Landing on Ice And Snow!

Any Extra Pre-Flight Inspections Needed For Extreme Cold Weather

Any other useful tips for that type of flying gladly accepted.

On approach to a snowy runway you may find banks of snow
right at the threshold, depending on who plowed.

Even the wings may encounter the snow bank half way down
the nice runway..

Also land without brake usage planned. Making
speed control more importent.

I have never landed except on snow. But read in the
AOPA magazine and heard it said that half ice and half
pavement is the worst situation. eXCEPT all ice with
six inch ruts seems like the worst to me.

I have never landed except on snow. But read in the
AOPA magazine and heard it said that half ice and half
pavement is the worst situation. eXCEPT all ice with
six inch ruts seems like the worst to me.

Ice is very bad, no matter what's under it. And ice is what you
inevitably get in the Northeast at some point in the winter,
especially on a grass runway. (Pavement is likely to melt the ice
off.)

I have been blown sideways on the runway, and I have had to make turns
on ice so slick that I had to switch to one magneto in order to travel
slowly enough at idle to make the turn without sliding off.

One winter we had an instructor who brought her figure skates to kill
time on such a day. It certainly adds to the excitement of taxiing on
glare ice when you have to worry about mincing up the CFI on your way
to the gas pump.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net