Winter Operations

Good afternoon fellow pilots, I just want to talk about winter fronts and their use on aircraft. For us flying in the northern part of the country we need to be considering our oil temperature before we taxi on the runway for take-off. I have my students keep the RPM around 1000-1200 until the needle comes of the wall for the oil temp gauge. Once the needle moves away from the wall I allow the student to perform the before take off checklist. Before we take the runway, I make sure we check the oil temp gauge one last time during our flow check to make sure it is now in the green before we go for our flight.

For the oil temperature to increase to operating temperature, you need to have installed the winter fronts when the out side air temperature is 20°F or colder. Winter fronts are pieces of plastic that cover the air inlets on the front of the cowl to restrict airflow over the cylinders. The oil cooler plate restricts the airflow over the oil cooler. These also need to be installed to help reach normal operating temperature.