"Long Engine Life Starts With Reiff"

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Technical Data and 

Magazine articles about preheating and winter flying

Technical Data

• Lycoming publications

   

  • Service Instruction No. 1505   Cold Weather Starting

   

  • Service Letter No. L180B
    Engine Preservation for Active and Stored Aircraft 

 

• Continental publications

   

  • Service Information Letter No. SIL 03-1
    COLD WEATHER OPERATION – ENGINE PREHEATING

   

  • Service Information Letter No. SIL 99-1
    Engine Preservation for Active and Stored Aircraft 

• FAA Tips on Winter Flying

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Magazine articles about preheating and winter flying

 

• AVIATION CONSUMER Reviews

• "The Whys and Hows of Preheating" by Mike Busch  (If you only read one article, read this one)

• "Coldstarts Are a Culprit in Engine Damage" by Mike Busch

• "Pre-heating: Is it necessary?" by Ben Visser

• "How to Warm a Cold Engine" by Kas Thomas

• "Mattituck Offers Preheating Advice"

• "Coldstart" by Thomas A. Horne

• NTSB Accident Reports (what can happen if you don't preheat properly)

• "Parts Manufacturing Approval", Aircraft Maintenance Technology magazine, Oct 2004

• "As cold weather approaches, take steps to protect your engine" by Ben Visser

• "The heat is on: Our experts agree on the best oil temperature" by Ben Visser

• Comments on preheating in mild climates, by John Schwaner, President of Sacramento Sky Ranch, Inc.

• "Finding the right balance - Stabilizing your aircraft's oil system" AOPA Pilot magazine, April 2005

• Aircraft And Engine Preheat Is A Big Deal, Plane & Pilot magazine, Nov 2005

• What's the best way to start a cold engine? by Ben Visser

• "Facing Down Fuel Costs - How to ease the high price of avgas [PREHEAT!]", AOPA Pilot magazine, Sept 2006

• A chill is in the air: What does that mean for owners? by Ben Visser

• What oil is best for winter? by Ben Visser

• How important is it to preheat an engine? by Ben Visser

• "Cold Engine Starts"  Aviation Safety Magazine, Dec 2007

• "ln Search of Optimal Preheating - Part 1, 2 and 3" by Ken Sutton, The Twin Cessna Flyer
  • Note - this is a very well done and informative series. There is just one minor critism we had... following is part of a letter Bob Reiff sent to the Editor regarding Part 1, which stated that the "Kennon cowl cover allowed the Reiff engine heater to warm my right engine 15% higher than the uncovered left engine":

  "It is technically not correct to state temperature differences as %, unless you are using the Kelvin scale.  It is incorrect to say 141F is X% warmer than 115F, or that 141F is “within 10%” of 155F, because 0 is not the bottom of the F scale.  He should just state the differences in terms of degrees F and leave it at that.  Alternatively, it would be accurate to state the percentage difference in the temperature RISE above ambient on the two engines.  For example, in his test the left engine (with no cover) rose from 65F ambient to 115F in 7.5 hrs, and the right engine (with the cover) rose from 65 to 141F over the same period.  That’s a RISE of 50F on the left and 76F on the right.  So the cover resulted in a 52% greater temperature rise (76/50 = 1.52).  Don’t mean to be picky, just wanted to point out that the difference the cover makes is actually much greater than the 15% Ken indicated.

  One final point.  Note the graph in the article shows the lines still climbing at 7.5 hours, when the test was discontinued.  Our testing has shown that the engine temp will continue rising for about 12 hours after the preheat system is plugged in.  If you want to get the engine as “happy” as possible, i.e. as close as possible to its operating temperature, leave the preheat system plugged in for 12 hours."

• "Always-on PreHeating: No longer a sin?" by Henry Fiorentini

• Pre-heating and pre-oiling aircraft engines by Ben Visser 

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Last updated 12/19/2019