Michael wrote:
That’s cool, errr “hot” – so you can program the cabin pre-heater when it’s on the mains ?
The Car Sharing service I use most of the time now allows you to pre-heat the cabin of your booked car through the app – as well as configuring the GPS with your destination and determining whether the 30c/min for the car usage will be billed to your company or private credit card. You can also unlock the door with the app. So you arrive at the car, get into a nice and warm cabin, enter your PIN code and go – and you leave the car anywhere you wish within the service area. Some of these cars are conventionally fueled, some are electric (such as the BMW i3). Why can’t GA be as innovative as this?
Hi Stephan, I found that Thermo Underwear used for skiing or motorcycling works well for flying.
The good thing is that you can wear it under your normal clothes. It will keep you warm, but doesn’t feel too warm with a higher OAT.
Patrick wrote:
The Car Sharing service I use most of the time now allows you to pre-heat the cabin of your booked car through the app – as well as configuring the GPS with your destination and determining whether the 30c/min for the car usage will be billed to your company or private credit card. You can also unlock the door with the app. So you arrive at the car, get into a nice and warm cabin, enter your PIN code and go – and you leave the car anywhere you wish within the service area. Some of these cars are conventionally fueled, some are electric (such as the BMW i3). Why can’t GA be as innovative as this?
I don’t have a Smartphone – don’t you laugh 
Stephan_Schwab wrote:
My take-away for now is that the heater does prevent you from freezing but it doesn’t really make a warm and cozy cabin at that kind of OAT.
You might want to have your heating system checked. With a 315hp engine going at high BHP like in the SR22T, there is a lot of heat available. Maybe you have an air leak somewhere. I don’t know the Cirrus system in detail but often, the mixing of hot and outside air is adjustable.
I certainly will do that.
On the other hand I did notice that the air vents in the console get pretty hot now that I have closed the rear vents.
I found myself flying over the Irish Sea at -15 degrees C last weekend and wondering whether this was an altogether sensible operating temperature for a SEP? The Lycoming site has advice about ‘cold weather operations’ around 40-50 degrees F, but this is more like 5 degrees F
Anything to know about here? Are there limits (within normal altitudes of course) or am I just over-thinking it?
Lycoming service bulletin
Any specifications on “cold weather operations” usually refer to ground operations, in particular: starting the engine. So that’s that.
Regarding absolute ambient temperature limits whilst flying, I am not exactly sure if there are any limits at all. But if there are, they will be much much lower. Certainly, -15C is no problem for any aircraft engine.
You can use the cruise performance tables to get an idea. Most (non-turbo) SEP aircraft have tables up to 14000 feet, and they are for ISA, ISA -20 and ISA +20 or so. Therefore, if you take 14000 feet and ISA -20, then you’ll have -33.
Usually, the cabin heater will not cope much sooner.
Some (old) aircraft will require the use of an oil cooler plate when operating below certain temperatures, in order to keep the oil temp in the green.
Thanks boscomatico, that does make sense. I hadn’t considered the cruise performance tables but, as you say, if -20 is a basic parameter then -15 is no big deal.
Re. the oil cooler plate, I guess the best thing to do would be to consult an engineer, although this is a newly reconditioned engine so I would hope it’s fit for purpose.
Love the comment about the cabin heater
I have taken the Aztec to -40° on the ground for an extended period (nearly three weeks, overall.)
I removed the battery and kept it in the warm, ensured that I preheated the engines and, indeed, the heater didn’t work, but apart from that encountered no problems.
Pouring oil into the engine is impossible without warming the bottle.
