on electricity, so if you have power available in your
hangar or parking spot, they can be effective at keeping
your engine warm. There are also heated covers for
aircraft engines, which work on the same principles of
the electric blanket.
There are also external heating systems available
for engines. These systems use propane and, in some
cases, battery power to blow hot air into your engine
compartment. The hot air warms the engine over the
course of 45 minutes to an hour and raises the bulk
temperature of the engine to the point where it is safe
to start.
These are the higher-cost options. The engine heaters
are generally FAA-PMA approved, which means the price
reflects the cost of that certification. The external propane
heaters are generally not attached to the airplane and
thus do not require FAA approval. However, since they
are designed to work in the aircraft environment, they
generally will cost you several hundred dollars.
Frugal Heating
There are other ways to effectively heat your engine and
not spend a fortune. As an example, you can get a 100-
watt incandescent light bulb and carefully direct it to
sit in your engine compartment. Covering the engine
compartment with an old comforter or a moving pad
(a thick, insulated pad used to protect furniture while
moving) can help to keep the heat dissipated by the
incandescent light bulb in your engine compartment.
This approach can be quite effective for pilots trying to
keep a plane ready on a moment’s notice.
There are other ways to effectively
heat your engine and not spend a
fortune. As an example, you can get
a 100-watt incandescent light bulb
and carefully direct it to sit in your
engine compartment.
There are some caveats that come with using this
approach. First, you need to make sure the light bulb is
not in contact with the airframe, since the temperature
generated can scorch paint or composite materials quite
easily. Second, the colder the temperature, the less likely
this approach will work for you. As the temperature
drops, the heat transfer rate between the heated space
and the exterior space increases proportionally. Unless
you take action to insulate your engine compartment to
prevent this heat loss, the light bulb approach will not
be able to work for you.
You can use a simple thermometer in your engine
compartment to validate this issue. Try the 100-watt
incandescent light bulb in the engine compartment on
a day where the temperature is below freezing, and with
Bonnie Kratz
