A well-designed engine cover can help to ensure your entire engine compartment is toasty warm on the most frigid winter days. [Credit: Jason McDowell]
Key Takeaways:
The author, after missing a flying opportunity due to his airplane failing to start in frigid temperatures despite an engine heater, sought a solution for more effective engine warming.
He invested in a custom-fitted, insulated engine cover from Bruce's Custom Covers to enhance his existing heater's efficiency, reduce warm-up time, and maintain engine heat more effectively in cold conditions.
The cover is highly praised for its robust, tailor-made construction, which precisely fits the aircraft and includes practical access flaps, significantly improving cold-weather engine preparation despite its premium cost and minor suggestions for design refinements.
In the three and a half years I’ve owned my airplane, there has been only one occasion when it refused to start.
It was a particularly frigid Sunday morning in Wisconsin, and, not expecting to fly that day, I hadn’t plugged my engine heater in the night before. This would prove to ruin what would have been a truly epic flying adventure.
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Jason McDowell is a private pilot and Cessna 170 owner based in Madison, Wisconsin. He enjoys researching obscure aviation history and serves as a judge for the National Intercollegiate Flying Association. He can be found on Instagram as @cessnateur.
