Trusty Comanche standing at Watson Lake. You'd seriously wouldn't go flying wearing gear they do! The temps at Watson Lake were at around -30 °C. There are some other things to consider too: In this cold, the seal rings in gear struts make an immediate usual suspect, so note for any leaks and shake the plane some. If bush flying, you ought to be familiar with how to replace the critical strut seals in the field. Not surprisingly, you'd mostly find Cessnas with their non-oleos much more utilized in such conditions.
An engine heater is a must, you'd stand no chance otherwise. Use the lowest-W multigrade oil tested and approved. In our case in A2A Comanche, that would be Phillips 20W-50, Forget about light checks and other things draining your battery. I'd also start without electric fuel pump if having cold batteries, with primer alone, if you know the plane can do that. After startup, your fancy televisions would be all but useless, until the liquid crystals warm up some. The gyros may or may not cope with, they appear to do just fine mostly. In the simulator, all this is relatively straightforward, and off we go!
Against what one might think, these kind of conditions are generally not much of an icing hazard of any kind, for the air is very dry. So, carburetor heat is not required, nor you'd need any FIKI aircraft. However, be sure to check the airplane for any accumulated frost if parked outside. With most profiles, the frost is actually not that much of penalty, and if escaping a wolf pack or something, I wouldn't consider a thin frost layer that much of a problem that my number of remaining ammunition was. Still, it is not something you'd want to try in reality, so Clean Wing Principle it is! Remember, no mechanical de-icing (scraping) is to be done, unless specifically allowed for! Also, keep your pitot heat on regardless to keep the tube clear of any blowing snow your prop or wind might kick up.
You'd mostly forget about stuff like ground leaning: the fuel evaporation is already somewhat compromised even with gasoline, and the actual mixture is way leaner than expected. You may even want to experiment with partial carburetor heat to aid the mixture formation. At takeoff, expect somewhat sporty performance for conditions. Especially when the departure airport is located in a valley or some, expect a strong inversion (increase in OAT when climbing) as the cold air sinks to the bottom.
AS16 wants to throw in these low level clouds where none were predicted or expected... you'd expect such in windy conditions and over & near any non-frozen water bodies. Any occasional low-level could is most likely of ice crystals blown around, and of zero icing hazard in general. But if you had some significant non-frozen water nearby, this stuff is likely a mix of supercooled water mist - as bad as it gets!
I can almost imagine the Uncle Scrooge here!
Now, at surface the temps were down to -40 °C. For most of us flying at the comfort of our PC corners, there are some implications. A Piper is not an Audi. It is neither T-shirt comfortable nor it is the most reliable machine the mankind has invented (even if cheating on emissions was allowed!). Not that Audi was either, but anyway!
Flying a single over this rugged terrain, I'd actually prefer a VFR I-follow-the-roads kind of flying, for this keeps me inherently close to a soon rescue should I crash-land. In these temps, even an hour with a broken leg would be rather extreme, I'd think. You also want to be extremely careful with leaning. With any engine issue, the immediate memory items would be mixture full rich.....if to no avail, then carburetor heat / alternate air ... apply.
And of course...you'd want to avoid hitting those big rocks too! It is still in fashion, it seems, even with all the toys around.
Ain't it nice to see some civilization!
Google Earth Track here for the route.
-Esa
