Hot weather flying

[stevron]

With the low horse power planes we fly , what temperature do people stop flying ?

 

 

[frank marriott]

If you have 80+ HP , check your 'P' charts an tighten your seat belt. (No experience with smaller engines).

 

 

[Aldo]

40 degC without any problem in my Jab (230, 120 HP), whatever you fly you just need to monitor the engine temps and be aware that your take off and landing runs will be longer. Check what your P charts for your aircraft allows you to do as regards ambient temperature.

 

Aldo

 

 

[Happyflyer]

That's what I like about the Tiger Moth, no P charts and no temp gauge.

 

 

[flyerme]

The smaller the engine =the lighter the plane =the bigger the bump...

 

Although the lightwing( with all that wing area but heavier) is far worse than the nieuport

 

Engine wise 35 degrees for both my air cooled and water cooled 2t planes 40-65 hp less in the VW engine 30 deg...

 

Also depends where you fly.

 

Just ask anyone who has flown here. Lmao.

 

Just last week had a pilot tell me he flew here( WX 10kts nrthly 32deg cels)

 

I mentioned I didn't here him?

 

He commented he dare not fly lower than 1500 as " geez you got some rough air at yours". Lol

 

If I had a dollar for every time a pilot says that"

 

Waiting for a glider pilot to fly over and tell me how awesome the air is here;)

 

 

[SSCBD]

From memory of many many years ago , the rotax (air cooled) two stroke had a air temp limit of 40c in its manual. Can anyone confirm this.

 

 

[kaz3g]

That's what I like about the Tiger Moth, no P charts and no temp gauge.

No P charts for the Auster, either but it does have oil pressure and temperature. Hot days don't seem to worry it much except those big wings want to go up in the thermals and certainly don't want to land on a hot, sealed runway.

 

Kaz

 

 

[facthunter]

If you plane is a slug and only climbs slowly whatever performance you lose due increased temperature will show up markedly. I've flown planes where the chart only goes to 40 or 42, so above that temp you are not legally able to fly. ( You can't extrapolate). Climbing faster should aid cooling if you still have a safe climb gradient. Nev

 

 

[mnewbery]

My comments are specific to the wire braced Drifter with 582 Rotax. Again specifically flying from Clifton YCFN. Altitude 1450 AMSL.

 

At 39 degrees OAT on the ground, I don't take off. Everything is too uncomfortable. It's hard to keep up the concentration, water intake and ideas. Nothing to do with the DA being near 4500 feet although the performance is just like that. Also if the wind is near calm, it's time for the dust devils to come out and play.

 

At 35 degrees I would reconsider flying two-up however the higher wing loading makes the bumps a bit more bearable. But the climbs take forever and the landing roll is noticeably longer. Also at 3000 feet AGL it's 6 degrees cooler up there and a bit of a rude shock to come back down.

 

Flying around Darwin YMKT at sea level up to the CTA limit in a strut braced Drifter was very comfortable at 35 degrees with a long sleeved shirt to keep the sun off. Plenty of performance available and no noticeable differences.

 

 

[naremman]

Flying in the WA Wheatbelt in summer provides no shortage of exposure (pun intended ) to this issue. If the strip is long enough, or the trees far enough away getting airborne does not present a problem, though the VSI does little to excite. It is usually oil temperature that can come into play pretty quickly. Though the first Mooney 201 that landed in Narrogin in February 1976 did not make the back track to the end of the runway from a heat soaked start before the oil temp red lined. Narrogin FC fitted a second ducted oil cooler to their early Warriors enable safe summer operations. The C150s mustering up in the pastoral country tried a number of mods to try and keep the oil temp sub 108 degrees.

 

After 40 years of flying an Airtourer 100 one approaches summer flying carefully. Density height really does become an issue at times, and the P charts in the Flight Manual does reflect this. On our first trip East with the Airtourer we took off from Forrest at gross weight with an air temp of 42 degrees, and at about 1500 ft AGL the oil temp required close attention. We eventually attained 5500' by riding the thermals at full power and cruise power when the air had no lift. One eye on the oil temp and the other covering the airspeed and VSI.

 

The most severe condition I experienced was when we were going East in our C172M and got into the circuit area at Caiguna and the OAT indicated 42 degrees. The ground temp was horrendous. The bloke at the roadhouse said that he was selling more litres of cool drink that fuel!! The good old Cessna come off the deck steadily and whilst the initial climb was not startling, as the temperature wound back with height it all got a bit more comfortable until we made 9500' with an OAT of 12 degrees. It certainly was one trip across the Bight when we did not want to see the cliffs low down.

 

The effects of heat are not confined to small aircraft. The sight that still haunts me is observing a RFDS PC-12 taking off from a Wheatbelt airstrip renown for being a bit tight. It was 8 oclock on a balmy March evening, dead calm, still 32 degrees with a QNH of 1004. That Pilatus chewed up all the lit airstrip and faced the trees, and I don't know much it cleared them by, but I was mightily pleased it did not connect.