extreme operating temperatures of a c172?

[comander]

Hello Im flying tomorrow it will be cero fahrenheit add also windchill factor,altitude temp,and airspeed.
I cant find in the manual anything about these extreme temps can it be all that safe? even my car engine kinda drags with those temps.

Also worried about alieron and control surfaces freezing. No visible moisture but really really cold.
Forecast says sunny but cold.

what do you people think.
thank you.

 

[Medivacer]

I've flown in the great white north.

It'll be fine. We would stop flying at -35 ground temp.

The biggest thing is warming the oil before you start, and keeping it warm. Sit there for 30 minutes if you need to.
The control surfaces should be fine, however look them over for frost that has appeared over night, and get rid of it. A broom works good.

If there is no moisture in the air you don't need to de-ice, however if a broom doesn't get rid of the residue, get it de-iced.

Good luck, and happy flying.

 

[nosehair]

People who grow up in the mountains in high altitude above 10,000 feet can do daily workloads the same as us lowlanders. They are accustomed, or 'acclimated', to the thinner air. Same thing with Eskimo's and cold temps.

I, too, have flown in the Great White North.

Once, over a period of several days in zero/sub-zero temps in a leaky drafty 172. You didn't feel those leaky drafts until you experienced those temps.

It was too darn cold to exist. The 172 heating/ventilation system is not prepared for zero and below.

Don't go but if you must, dress up in many layers as you would if you are outside in the wind.

 

[avbug]

Wind Chill is irrelevant to the airplane; it's only important to you. The airplane only knows how cold it really is...not how cold it feels.

Your controls use direct cables; there's nothing to freeze.

Your engine should be preheated. You shouldn't operate without the engine being properly heated and the oil properly heated. Your cockpit and instruments should also be preheated.

You'll find the airplane flies much better when it's cold outside.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Windchill:

In still air, as internal energy is conducted from a warmer body to the surrounding air, the air near the object is warmed. That increased air temperature reduces the temperature difference between the body and air, slowing the rate of heat loss. When the air surrounding a warm body is moving, the warmed air is replaced more quickly by cool air, keeping the temperature difference, and rate of energy transfer, higher.

It is the flow of energy to/from the skin that determines our sense of hot and cold. If the skin is cold, room temperature air feels warm. If the skin is warm, the same room temperature feels cool.

Wind chill temperature is based on a combination of air temperature and wind speed. As air temperature decreases and wind speed increases, the air feels colder because the temperature difference between skin and air is maximized as any warmed air is quickly replaced by cold air. That larger temperature difference increases heat flow, and our sense of coldness. Wind chill is calibrated to the human body's sense of coldness due to that effect.

Heat always flows from higher to lower temperature, so the temperature of human skin will not drop below that of the surrounding air, regardless of wind. Likewise, inanimate objects (like automobiles) will not drop below the temperature of surrounding air. So while a wind will reduce the time it takes for a warm object to cool down to air temperature, it can't result in a final temperature below that of the air itself. If air temperature is -10 degrees and the wind-chill temperature is -25 degrees, for example, automobiles and tractors only need antifreeze protection down to -10 degrees.