Question for Carm re: cessna 140 cf-dxd

[olderndirt]

See you had something partially blocking airflow over the cylinders.  That C85 was a cold blooded sucker - power on 'til you had it made or the prop would stop.

[Deleted]

Gd Mornin Dave. As I understand it, that was put here to raise the engine heat a little. When that shot was taken it was in the winter at Cold Lake Alta. It was normal to have 40 below[F}. -30F was a normal daytime temp. Poor little 'C' needed all the help it could get. Granted, we had to be careful in those temps and the cabin was not all that warm either----note the boots.
Cheers. Carm.

[olderndirt]

When it was so cold you could chin yourself on the prop, we fired up a little catalytic heater and stuck it under the cowl as close to the oil sump as possible.  Covered the cowl with an engine cover and the prop was loosy goosy in about three hours.

[Deleted]

That reply Dave reminded me of the time I was on TD at a site  'up North' . It was the middle of winter and the locals kept their A/C just off the tarmac at our base, they used the same tactic to heat their engines. One lads heater ignited some oil or grease around the engine ----no problem he just ran to get our Fire Force to put it out and they arrived in full regalia and with sirens wailing and proceeded to haul hoses over the snow to do their duty---when the valves were turned on at the trucks , it was like an old time comedy act. The foam had frozen and there they stood holding the hose while a small 'trickle' of foam oozed out. The poor bugger had to stand there and watch his A/C burn to a skeleton. Now ! to top this act off, these clowns when they returned to the fire hall hadn't turned off the valves at the truck, and when things thawed out there was foam out the windows, under the doors it almost filled the place. What a mess.,not to mention the poor guys A/C. Now, another side to this debacle is that this field was regularily used by a scheduled airline, and it depended on these clowns for their fire protection---thankfully there was never a need for them.
I can still see those clowns standing aiming the foam hose and that little trickle coming out. If it wasn't so tragic it could have been a scene from a Walt Disney movie.
Cheers. Carm.

[olderndirt]

They must have been using a firepot of some kind - they do have exposed flames.  The catalytic, after it burns down through the catalyst cover, is flameproof and puts out a ton of btu's for its size.  Good to hear that Canadian Forces have comedy teams just like the US.