Cold weather flying

[Ben2k9]

I don’t yet have much experience flying in the cold with the CT. If I were going to be flying a cross country where ground temps are in the 30s and 40s, and let’s say it’s a higher humidity day, what would be the expectation for using carb ice, and do these planes do well in this environment?

if cruising in this type climate, would one apply carb heat proactively, or wait until you detect some symptoms of carb icing?

 

 

[ct9000]

With wider throttle opening carb ice is very rare. Use carb heat for low power eg. on approach as a precaution. Generally CT's are good in cold or harsh conditions as long as any air leaks are sealed up.  

[JLang]

As a general rule I try to pull carb heat with significant throttle reductions.  As ct9000 said, I believe the Rotax is less susceptible to carb ice than most GA engines.  In 2.5yrs I've yet to have carb ice flying in humid Michigan, even when I forget to pull carb heat.

The biggest challenge for me was learning to tape the radiator.  There seems to be a lot of variation in individual planes, but I put a full strip of aluminum tape across the top whenever ground temps are below about 60F.  At 20F and below I have more than half the surface covered.  Otherwise I'll never get above 190F oil temps.

[Ben2k9]

Thanks guys!

[Warmi]

Well, I had my Sting S4 ( similar carbon/fiberglass plane) develop a small crack in a canopy during a flight at about 10 F ( that’s temps on the ground - probably 8F or so up there ) ... it was a bit windy but not overly so.

Still have no idea what caused it - most likely a combination of freezing weather, windy conditions etc..

Here is a video how it happened ... https://youtu.be/BLi1de5wHAk

 

I no longer fly if it is below 20 F.