No heat and 29. Would you fly?

[jjbardell]

Quick poll. If you had no heat and its 29, would you fly?
Assuming you're in a heat hangar so the engine is in the upper 50's.
Is there risk of fogging the windscreen?
Does the sun keep the cockpit warm enough for 45 min @ 3-4,000 ft?

[N111YX]

Preheat, add two layers, fly. Your oil says thank you... :)

[rk2436]

The sun makes a huge difference. Enjoy the nice dense air when you can.

[gammaxy]

I fly below 29 all the time during the frigid winter months of northern Alabama. If the sun is out I don't even give it a second thought. I still haven't solved the preheat problem in my lousy plane port with no electricity (that I'm grateful to have).

[mike.smith]

Up here in Massachusetts I do it often. I've never had the canopy/windscreen fog up. That always surprised me. Perhaps it's because there is so much air naturally flowing through the fuselage, so not much moisture in there. For me the WORST part of winter flying is all the air that comes in from the wing roots, and blows onto my left leg. I keep meaning to make fabric boots (like the stick boots) for those holes and controls.

I do have different size cover plates for the bottom cowl opening to vary the amount of air that goes to my bottom-mounted oil cooler, or the oil can get too cold.

[wlarson861]

I have flown down into the 20's, not fun but never saw mist on the windscreen. If the sun is shining it's not too bad in the cabin but the air moves through the cabin enough you need to make sure you have warm feet and hands. Air coming through the wing roots and stick boots are good in the hot weather but a real problem in frigid weather. It's not the flying that's the problem as much as the being outside before and after the flight. I'm almost finished installing my heater so cold weather may not be as big an issue soon,(I hope). The dense, stable air of winter is great for flying as far as a smooth ride with great engine performance.

[DCASonex]

Would love to see a warm 29 degree day with minimal winds. No heat in mine and have flow at 20°F and sun keeps cockpit warm enough that did not even need gloves. This time of year, have a couple of small diameter cross bars in my cooling air intakes to intentionally mess up the cooling efficiency to allow CHTs to get up to where they should be, and multi-point engine pre-heater. 3300 in a Sonex with just pilot and in the cold air, hundred feet in the air by the time I get to the first hash marks on runway.

Some one here asked about wing leading edge vents. do not know about that, but for cold weather flying, sealed off the edges of the seat pan to fuselage, as a lot of cold air comes up from there from the openings into wings for aileron push rods.

David A. Sonex TD, CAMit 3300, Western New York State

[Afsbz]

Sure, why not? I live in Milwaukee area, it would be a long wait to fly to have warmer weather. Never had any fogging issue on the canopy. I have cabin heat, but when the sun is out it isn't needed. I do preheat and keep the battery on a tender.

[XenosN42]

If you had no heat and its 29, would you fly?

Absolutely! I flew hang gliders for 10 years, mostly in the Catskill Mountains of NY. If the winds were right I'd take off in temperatures anywhere above the high teens. For me it wasn't the outside temperature (I have no control over that), but how I dressed for it (which I did control).

-- Michael
Xenos N42XE (it's still for sale)
One N169XE

[LarryEWaiex121]

You bet!

LIke others, I would dress warm (snowmobile bibs) and stuff a couple of those disposable pocket warmers around my kidney area and away I go. I try to plan flights flying into the sun as much as possible. Amazing what the solar heating does. Especially with dark clothing.
My wing gap seals work really well and no air leaks down by my feet. My issue is a small gap apparently on the passenger side about 5 inches off center that I notice whenever I reach towards the right side of the panel. I guess the canopy just doesn't seal as well in that area?
I am seriously looking into the heated seat idea though. For a Sonex/Waiex, I can think of no way to more easily get heat into the cabin(actually the pilot) than heated seats. Very little additional equipment required to do so with my new 40 amp alternator.