First cold day flying the RV-12

Today was the first time I flew the RV-12 in COLD weather. Well, 42F here in South Carolina is cold!

A few observations…longer of course to warm up the oil to the 120F mark.

Cylinder heads were top of caution range throughout except during take-off, is this common?

Oil temp lower than I've seen in the hot weather, naturally, but it was about half-way in the green.

Today…fuel pump working fine (and loud) but fuel pressure hovering at the upper caution point…about 2.8psi at 5100rpm and when throttled back it increased to 3.5-4.0 range. I've read here that the higher the fuel flow the lower the pressure…haven't seen this before until recently though. Does the colder weather have any impact?

Engine ran well and started first time on choke.

One other thing..I just loaded the 12SV11.1-Pre-SETS etc upload from the Vans site…looks like they've made settings that came from Dynon on the 11.0 upgrade…like nearest airports color coded for weather conditions…I'll look for other settings. Point I'm making is that some posters said their software settings changed after they uploaded directly from Dynon and Vans had told me that I should wait to upload from their site as they look at the software from the RV-12 aspect. Am I correct here as to how Vans configure the software if you upload it from them?

As always, apologize for newbie questions but trying to learn!! Thanks!

For those who are running into issues with warmup times and also keeping oil temps up in flights, we have a thermostat retrofit install kit that is proving to be very popular for those with 912 engines. It is offered as a complete drop in package for the RV-12.

This kit reduces warmup times by close to 50% and also helps to keep in flight temperatures dramatically higher, including in longer low power descents.

Have a great day and happy flying!!!

Steve


http://aircraftspecialty.com/rv-12.html

Is the thermostat kit an option for the SLSA RV-12 as well?

Shutter also works well and light weight

Posted last year:

Here is a link for the mod for the radator - http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=54506&highlight=Real+Heat

I had the oil temp bypass on the Rotax before I installed it in my 12, but I chose not to use it since my RV12 EAB was going to weight in a little heaver than the standard ELSA version.



Shutter works great, I don't need to regulate it much - fully closed for warm up, then partially open for climb out, and then a slight adj during flight. There seams to be plenty of room to adj the temps in flight.

I will most likely remove it when we hit spring and summer temps.

Top Cat said:

Is the thermostat kit an option for the SLSA RV-12 as well?

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The thermostat kit is not yet an option for the SLSA RV-12 kit. However, if you are interested, please send Vans an email requesting it. We have been selling lots of our various hose kits to EAB and ELSA RV-12 aircraft. But, Van's needs to give it the blessing to go on the SLSA. If Vans believes that there is enough interest, I am confident we will be able to bring this to the SLSA group.

We already have all the instruction manuals and documentation, so it is simply a matter of having the factory to the approval.

Fly safe,
Steve

I just e-mailed Vans to request the thermostat as an option for the SLSA!

Quick and dirty cold weather option

I added a strip of aluminum tape to cover almost half of my oil cooler this weekend to deal with the cooler weather and to experiment a little. Planned a short flight over several local airports should I experience excessive oil temps. Had my EZheat on a timer to warm up the oil for several hours before a flight on Saturday. The electrical engine heater has a pad on the external oil tank and a second one on the bottom of the engine block.

Its not winter yet, but early morning outside air temp at was 33 degrees. At start up, the preheated oil temp immediately read 80 degrees then dropped to about 73. ( I assume the warmer oil in the tank passed through the engine case and initially cooled a little). Within 6 mins it increased to 122 degrees which gave me time to set up my flight plan etc.. so I can live with that. After taxing and doing run up it had increased to 163 degrees. I had a relative short but steep climb of 2,000 ft and the oil temp maxed out at 222 degrees (OAT was 24). Through the short flight, oil stayed between 201 and 219 degrees. Higher temp range than I am use to with the RV-12 in warmer weather, but still below the yellow caution range. Generally, (first 80 hours flying this year) I really never had any issue with oil temperatures getting into the yellow on my climb out and haven't had the need for the mod to move the oil cooler that others needed. My selfish goal was to stay in the green on oil temp, but get the radiator to warm up and give me some warmer cabin air. In cruse, I was getting warmer air than OAT, but not exactly what I would call cozy. For a short winter flight, it was fine, but for a longer trip it was not ideal.

After a stop for breakfast and on my trip home, I did get the oil temp to just enter the yellow caution zone for a few minutes after a steep cruze (didn't get above 230 degrees). As soon as I lowered the nose, the temp dropped fairly quickly. (OAT was only 17 degrees at 6,500 ft). Oil temp stabilized at 215 degrees.

Conclusion:
- In local (pre winter) conditions, 50% coverage on oil cooler (with cheap aluminum tape) significantly shortened my ground warm up time
- Was able to climb and keep oil below caution temps.
- In cruse, managed to stay in top range of the green zone for oil temp.
- However, 912ULS (as installed in my RV-12) just doesn't generate a whole lot of extra heat. (Not complaining as everyone I know with a Lycoming/Continental seems to struggle with engine cooling issues.)
- Will keep the tape in place for time being this winter (until that Global Warming kicks in that I was promised)

Brent,

For good wintertime temperature control you need to address two issues, oil temp and coolant temp. Sound like you have addressed the oil temp issue with your taped oil cooler. However you will not get much cabin heat unless you can get the coolant temps up and keep them there. Several clever builders have addressed this part of the problem by devising cockpit controllable air control devices that go in front of the coolant radiator. Personally I have inserted a simple fixed aluminum plate that covers the top half of the radiator for the winter months. This performs two functions, restricting the total area of the radiator, and forcing most of the air that does go through the radiator to pass through the section where the output air is routed into the cabin.

In my case, I have addressed the oil temp issue by installing the Aircraft Specialty thermostat kit, which BTW, works wonderfully in both summer and winter conditions.

Cold Weather flying in the RV-12

There was a lot of answers to Top Cat's questions but most related to the oil temp. I also flew this weekend in cold weather and I experienced the higher than normal cylinder temps. Any ideas on why? The temps. fluctuated between high yellow and red.

johns4689 said:

There was a lot of answers to Top Cat's questions but most related to the oil temp. I also flew this weekend in cold weather and I experienced the higher than normal cylinder temps. Any ideas on why? The temps. fluctuated between high yellow and red.

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Need more info. Oil cooler blocked? Coolant radiator blocked? Oil thermostat installed? If none of these, then high CHT have to be due to other causes.

Just to be clear?I experienced CHTs at the top of caution range BELOW the normal range. It only went higher into the normal range a couple of times. I didn't see temps at the top of the caution into the red area.

Oil temp was about mid-point in the green. In the summer, out west, I saw temps at the top end (high) and had to step climb to keep the temps lower.

The engine ran fine, and except for fuel pressure fluctuating on the low side, everything was normal.
Cabin heat was poor?and I was starting to think about wearing my thermals!

Top Cat said:

Just to be clear?I experienced CHTs at the top of caution range BELOW the normal range. It only went higher into the normal range a couple of times. I didn't see temps at the top of the caution into the red area.

Oil temp was about mid-point in the green. In the summer, out west, I saw temps at the top end (high) and had to step climb to keep the temps lower.

The engine ran fine, and except for fuel pressure fluctuating on the low side, everything was normal.
Cabin heat was poor?and I was starting to think about wearing my thermals!

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Yes, that's the way I took it, but suspect some others thought you were talking about high temps, not low.

IMHO the only way to get decent heat in the cockpit is by blocking off part of the coolant radiator. see previous post.

What you need for cold weather - -



I have an oil Thermostat and Heater Damper Door. At 200 - 210 CHT, the heat is very good. Flew on Friday, and it was about 15 degrees F at ALT. Must have the canopy seals installed very well also.

JBPILOT said:

I have an oil Thermostat and Heater Damper Door. At 200 - 210 CHT, the heat is very good. Flew on Friday, and it was about 15 degrees F at ALT. Must have the canopy seals installed very well also.

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What is the hobbs up to now John?

Flew Friday - - -

but I still don't recall exactly. I think close to 690 hours. With it this cold in Iowa, might be a while before I can post 700 hour mark. Thanks for asking.