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Mike Busch, a well-known expert on piston aircraft engines is quoted as saying the following:

“Generally, I consider any start in which the engine is cold-soaked to a temperature below freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0 degrees Celsius) to be a misdemeanor and any start below 20 degrees F (minus 7 degrees C) to be a felony. The colder the temperature, the worse the crime (and the ensuing punishment).”

It’s not that the oil is thick (according to Mike, multi-viscosity oil flows fine in the cold temps), it’s the damage caused by the different expansion rates of aluminum and steel that is used in our engines. Aluminum shrinks about twice as much as steel in cold weather. So our airplane’s aluminum crankcase shrinks twice as much as the steel crankshaft that runs through it, reducing the clearance between the bearings and the crankshaft. That is why it’s tougher to turn the prop on a cold day.

Continue reading “A Note on Preheat”

As of December 21, 2019, all of our aircraft are ADS-B out compliant.

Late 2016, we took advantage of the FAA rebate program and saved $500 by installing a Garmin GTX 345 transponder in our Cessna 182.

This year we were able to save money by working with an Ercoupe group called Coupe Capers to get a group purchase price for a Uavionix TailBeacon. We installed the TailBeacon on our Cessna 150 In November.

And finally, we also were able to save money by ordering a package from Modern Avionics that included the Garmin GTX 335 ADS-B out transponder, wiring harness, WAAS GPS antenna, & altitude encoder. This equipment was installed in our Cessna 172 and was flown back to Galion on December 21, 2019.