Winter flying?

[hans]

Hi Gang,

what do you northeners do to prepare for Winter flying? I'm not too concerned about the temps (yet...), a bigger concern would be to keep the canopy from fogging and force IMC upon me...
My canopy has the standard ventilation on the sides, none in the front. Is this an issue with Sonerai Autumn/Winter operations?

cheers
Hans

[n3480h]

There are quite a number of aircraft which have and use canopy defrost devices. Some are using valved heat from the engine, some tap into the cabin heat system. A number of RV's have used miniature computer fans, circulating cabin heat. One even installed screened vents on his glareshield and utilized the heat generated by the avionics. Lots of options.

Here in northern Iowa, we have many flyable days with cold weather and relatively high humidity. It can be very difficult to keep condensation (or even thin ice) off the inside of my truck windshield until the heat comes up, so I imagine some sort of defrost system may be necessary under a Sonerai canopy. Fortunate for us that aircraft engine heat comes up quickly.

Sudden frosting on departure would . . . peg the pucker needle.

And, speaking of cold weather flying, Fred has an article in this month's EAA Sport Aviation about how to build an inexpensive engine preheater that brings engine and cowl temp up in the time it takes to have a cup of coffee. Pretty slick.

Tom