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RV-10 Fiberglass in cold weather

Moshonsk

Member
Given what I'm assuming to be a small sample size I'm looking for any experience with the RV-10 in Cold Weather. Cold being defined as OATs from -10C down to -40C or so. Living in Canada those temperatures are the norm for most of our winter flying days, although not particularly this year.

I'm already familiar with all the cold weather considerations such as preheat, relief holes in crankcase breathers, oil cooler shutters and the like. What I am concerned with and have no real experience with is any potential cracking in fiberglass and finishes, particularly at the glass/aluminium interfaces and around the windows. I glassed over the perimeters of the windows with resin and cloth as well as along the lower edges of the cabin top and fared them into the aluminium.

Given the large differences in expansion coefficients should I be concerned with cracking in these areas, particularly when bringing the aircraft out of a heated hangar at, say +5C, to an outside with an OAT of say -30C?
I haven't seen any talk of this on any forums so I its either not a problem or the sample size of airplanes exposed to this is too small.

Any input, experience or advice would be appreciated.
 
Cold weather

This is my RV-10s 1st winter so haven't gotten it properly cold yet, but do have one example from the Glasair that also has steel hinges at the top of the doors. When it gets below -20C or so the doors bind at the top since the fiberglass doesn't shrink but the hinges do. Left a bit more gap in the RV-10.

As it got cooler, I learned the importance of making sure the door seals were good for the comfort of the back seat passengers. Otherwise the flow reverses and they get a big draft from the tail cone.

That's all I have so far, but will be watching this space.

Derek
 
Thanks for that. Never thought about the hinges contracting.
It seems I've sealed most of the drafts and have some testing with that under my belt. All you have to do is bring your wife along on a cold weather cross country and you know she will find and point out all the drafts. We made boots for the aileron pushrods and they seem to be doing their job. At the first annual coming up I will be investigating the area under the front seats where the spars enter as we do seem to have a draft there. Right now the fix for that is to turn on the rear heat and it heats the tunnel up quite well and that cold spot disappears. We also installed heated seats but so far haven't really had use for them as the rear heat indirectly seems to heat that area up.
Only other issue is windshield defrost before and just after startup. I have a couple of computer fans on the glareshield and they seem to work OK but I haven't really truly tested them on a really cold day.
And for reference, during the build all exterior aluminium was covered with 3/*" closed cell insulation. Can't really compare it to what it would be like if i hadn't installed but I'd like to think it makes some difference. It does, however, dampen the oil can/drum effect of large areas of aluminium vibrating and making their own sound.
 
<SNIP> Given the colder temperatures the Continental US is getting this year perhaps there will be some more real world experience with this. Again I've flown from hangar to OATs of -40C in other aircraft but none with the rather unique fibreglass/aluminium interfaces like the -10. I'm certain every RV has similar interfaces with at least the windshield fairing. Any comments or experiences out there?
 
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thermal coefficients of AL and FG are close enough to not be a concern. The BIG concern is the difference between the FG and acrylic.
 
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