Georgia to Maine

[ghancock]

We woke up on Tuesday morning to head to Maine for some customer training.  The weather in GA was so bad that most of the airports were essentially shut down due to low ceilings.  The rain had moved in over the night and we were at 400' on our grass strip.  None of this was the immediate concern though as I had opted as usual to getting gas on the way.  So now I was with about an hour of gas on board and no local airports to land at.

Luckily I had enough gas in my portable tank to fill up both aux tanks though which got us to two and a half hours of travel time which was more than enough to reach some VFR weather to land in.  The runway was pretty wet and I have video of the departure but no photos.  Will upload those later as I'm still in the hotel with a crappy connection until this weekend.

The trip up was pretty awesome with a quick stop at KMTV to get gas.  Our departure time from 62GA was around 10:30 though and I guess my son had decided it was time for some food.



The people at KMTV were pretty awesome and we ended up staying for almost an hour.  Not a huge deal though as we were averaging about 225knot ground speed and looked like we would be pretty much for the entire trip.  Not too bad at 11k

So we finally departed for our final leg.  About 3:30 hrs total time but had to fly through a few snow storms on the way up.  In fact, we never saw the blue sky once during the entire trip and were hard IFR for at least 3/4 of it.  No ice though and no real bumps so not complaining at all.















Then as we reached our destination we got below the layer and the moon came out.  Yes, evidently it gets dark at 3:45pm in Maine so we landed in the pitch dark on a snow packed runway at 4:45pm.  Also, not thinking about landing at a small airport the FBO closes at 5 so we ended up cutting it pretty closely.  The people at KOLD though were super nice and had hung around to make sure we got the car and helped us with everything.  Wow what a shock to the system stepping out of that warm airplane though.  Not sure how people live in this kind of cold but was sure glad they were here to meet us.



Here is a link to the entire gallery of pictures but the most impressive part of the trip was the moon.  In the pictures above that glare on the window is not.a glare at all, but the moon hanging out there between the horizon and the layer of clouds.  It was a pretty awesome view.

https://gshutter.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Business-Trips/Maine-for-Hamiltons

Hope you enjoyed,

Glenn

[donv]

Great pictures-- especially the last one!

Did you get your pressurization working?

[ghancock]

No, I think I have the supercharger going but the pump motor that drives it is not spinning up so need to pull it back off and see what is going on with it.  I think I know the issue but will need to drain all the damn skydrol out again to get it off.  I wish I had a better way to drain the system because it seems like once a month I'm having to deal with that.

Thanks,

Glenn

[ghancock]

Well, this is something new...

We got done with training early and decided we were going to beat the snow storm and leave this afternoon.  It was an absolutely beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky.  25 knot winds and a high at 7 degress though and something strange took place.

First we got to the airport and snapped a few pictures.  They were few and quick though as it was sooooo cold that you could barely stand to be out there more than a few minutes at a time.







I then went to pull the props through as I've never been in weather this cold before where the plane was outside.  It was closed to impossible to pull them through though and after about 15 times of hanging on the prop blades I decided that was pointless.  Next I decided to get the oil out and try to at least fill it up and I'd go ask the airport guys if they had some way to warm me up.

Here is a video of how well that worked out for me.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PBi_yuhvNAU

So, we're stuck another few days so decided to head to Sugarloaf to do some skiing for a few days and hope it warms up.

The airport guys had no idea how to do it as they have no hangers and no heaters that could be used.  My only thought is that Sunday afternoon I'm going to go purchase a couple blowers and some sort of duct to direct the heat into the engines and hope for the best.  My main concern with this venture is that I have the engine oil and also the oil in the tank in the wing.  I was thinking I could just blow eat up into the landing gear area to try to warm that tank up but then what about the skydrol?  How cold does it take before it goes sideways?

Learn and move...

Glenn

[SKYFLYER]

A cold soaked aircraft is no fun for sure. And in the current temps where you are with the aircraft outside it would be dangerous to try to start and fly out without some sort of pre-heating of at the very least both engines. The skydrol is not an issue as it will not congeal at 0 to 7F. The issues will be every rubber seal will be hard and maybe
brittle depending how worn they are.
Heating the wheel wells including the nose is a very good idea.
The forecast for where you are should be mid 40's by mid day Sunday and heaps easier to warm up the Commander. So enjoying the slopes at Sugarloaf until Sunday sounds like a good plan. And have a safe flight back to GA.

[ghancock]

Thanks,  and it was a good plan all the way around. They were not kidding that a snow storm was coming. We're now in the beautiful mountains and it is snowing hard outside.  Looks like it will be most of the day.

Glenn

[ghancock]

Well, we are still here and not looking good.  We did spend the entire day skiing though so my son has had his first ever lesson and did awesome.  Instructors said they couldn't believe he'd never been out on snow before.  I was actually surprised he did so well but very pleased he enjoyed it.  My wife and I went up one of the blue trails and she was done.  I got 4 more runs on it before I started getting a little tired and Jacobs lessons stopped at 3pm so I had to get back to pick him up.

The snow didn't slow down for the entire day and there was lots of soft powder all the way down.  I have never gotten to go skiing like this in my entire life and actually have only done it 3 times before today.  I've always dreamed of getting time to stay on the slop and just hang out.  I always thought it would be cool if it snowed the entire time you were out but it rarely does I guess.  So today was extra special because we not only had the entire day on the slopes but it kept coming down hard the entire time.  So my midget got to play all day in the snow and learn how to ski as well.

Point?  Well, if I didn't have the plane, and it didn't get so damn cold that my oil froze, I'd be sitting back at home in the rain right now...   So while it is frustrating to have problems with the plane or weather, just make the best of it and find something to do.  This trip will rank at the top of all our trips and it wasn't even a plan 2 days ago.

Here are a few pics from today and a video of Jacob ripping down the slop... slowly :-)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tTUjmS_8ODM







Now tomorrow I hope to get back to the plane and figure out how to get her off the ground again so I can go home.

Glenn

[Willis]

This may not help you get off the ground now; but it may avoid this in the future.

Ive been recommending multigrade oils for over 20 years.  OWT's die hard.  + Never use a straight grade in winter.  Best one  20/50.  stays fluid below zero and protects from overtemp'ing.

5606 and skydrol will thicken up to about 100Cs at 0C, but work fine. no need to treat it.  50 straight oil is well over 10,000 Cs (centistokes), and you see what that looks like.

Electric engine heaters (pad types) can be applied (epoxy) to sumps, either dry or wet.

On the geared engines, with dry sumps, the engines should be idled a while prior to shut down to ensure all the oil in the lower sump is pumped up to the oil reservoir tank.  (which should also get a pad heater).  Right after shutdown is when the oil level is measured, IIRC.

A Pre oiler, in combination with preheated oil will help a lot in getting  your engine temp up.

I haven't used the propane type engine heaters, but it appears it would also require a lot of blankets to seal off the engine and wheel wells.

[Huck-Mag]

Great posting Glenn!  I always learn from your adventures. 

I was roughing it in Cayman, only to return to DFW on a crowd killer and 28 degrees/40 kt gusty winds.

Was perhaps the bumpiest landing I've experienced in a 737 but wasn't lack of skill by the pilot.

Hoping to take the 680FL to Cayman next year.  She has previously made it to St Croix and France.

Brent

[Badger]

Great story and posts, Glenn.  You made memories that'll last a lifetime.   No downside!  I was stuck in Iola Kansas a few years ago with a busted starter when an ice storm cane through.  Overall, more good than bad memories from that experience.  I just love what we get to do!

Ed

[Badger]

A view of my commander in the biggest hangar at Iola during the ice storm.  ;-)

Ed

[ghancock]

Thanks guys.  I've found that every memory is a good one as we always make the best of whatever happens.  At the moment I am a bit concerned as to how I'm going to pull off a departure here with no heater but am going to call the Dragon people first thing in morning and see what the chances are that they could next day me one.  One fact, if I do pull that off i will end up not needing it and the temps will go up on their own but either way it seems a necessary step.  I've exhausted all other prospects.

I went tonight and purchased connectors, heater, propane tank and other accessories to work up my own heater.  In the end the list of materials would have taken care of the problem along with a 70,000 BTU heater, however, as usual, you buy a bunch of Chineese shit and you'll end up with a Chineese shit heater.  I had to take it all back to Home Depot because most of what I bought fell apart when I tried to use it.  The girl at Home Depot said "Oh yeah, we have a lot of these come back"...  WTF, stop selling the shit then.  What a waste of my time.

With a high of 11 tomorrow and 25 Tuesday, it looks more and more like a heater is going to be my only real option.  Then I'll be ready for Alaska flying as I don't like repeating the same failures to launch.  It takes away from all the fun :-)

Oh, and great picture of the tail hanging out.  I'd kill for that option at the moment but not looking like it will happen.


Glenn

[Adam Frisch]

The guys who flew in the show Ice Pilots for Buffalo Airways always had a big heater they ducted air from to heat engines. I remember one show where Joe, the owner, was ragging on a pilot because he'd forgot to load that thing. He said it was the most important equipment to have onboard.

[Steve binnette]

I had the sump  pads heaters on my 421 and they worked great, even better when you wrapped the cowl in a old sleeping bag or blanket.

In a pinch a couple of 100 watt light bulbs stuffed in the cowl can do the trick.

[Badger]

Well, I know the feeling, Glenn.  I hope something works out soon to get you out of there...safely.  Until then, enjoy the snow, movies, restaurants and hotel!

Ed