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My base is heading to our first full winter with the Hogs in Indiana.

Common problems and tips from the elder Hog specialists is welcomed.

So far we've only had a few days that would be considered kind of extreme, and are running into hydraulic leaks (actuators/swivels) popping up. What else should we be looking forward to?

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SoWW #2485
Cave Putorium!

Frozen ladder door latch/solenoid, Frozen starter control valve and football valve, canopy seal won't inflate, windshield wash/rain removal frozen. Most things can be remedied with a heater for a few minutes on the affected area. Also make sure your windshield wash is mixed properly or you'll get frozen/split bottles and lines in the nose. I usually mix it heavy on the methanol side in the winter. You'll have to check for snow and ice buildup in the APU/engine intakes and may have to pre-heat.
We (Crew Chiefs) will check all of these things first thing in the morning during winter months, including motoring engines, to prevent ground aborts. I'm sure i'm missing some things but it's a start to the list.

I guess I did run into a frozen ladder door last year at Hill (I put a heater on it), and a stuck starter control valve that the Hill guys whacked on with a screwdriver I think...lol. Also had a few inches of snow/ice packed in the engine nacelles we had to clear. Almost forgot about the snow at Hill...lol.

We mix our window wash 60/40 methanol/water. Should it be higher than that?

We haven't trained any CCs yet on engine runs (only engine shop runs right now), but are getting me and three others spun up in a couple weeks. There has been mention of motoring at our base so I guess that will be our morning task.

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SoWW #2485
Cave Putorium!

It helps to identify the frozen items early so you have time to heat everything up and save the sortie. If you wait and find out you have no rotation when the pilot is already in the seat he may not have time to wait for the fix and step to a spare if you have one available. A few extra minutes of prep in the morning makes all the difference some times!

What kinds of temperatures are we talking about? I was at Eielson for three years, so I know a thing or two about the cold...

Hehe Jack, probably nothing near what Alaska has.

We get our share of 20s to -10s in Jan/Feb with snow and freezing rain/ice.

I think I saw a suggestion in one of the TOs to use external power to start the APU in the cold...to save the battery, or not to have the invertor on STBY for APU start either. I really don't want to have to put a warm battery in every day...that would suck.

Might be a moot point anyway. I have to watch what I say because sometimes my posts end up on another site without my permission even though that jackass is banned from here, but we may be going someplace warmer for a month this winter anyway.

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SoWW #2485
Cave Putorium!

At Eielson the jets outside got the batteries removed every night. We also put strut tents on them, but that's overkill for you. We used 5606 in the struts year round.

In the AM, we would take the H1 off the strut tents and hook (with safety wire) one of the hoses to the APU intake, and with the engine covers still on, squeeze one hose into either the intake or exhaust of the #1 and #2 for about an hour? prior to step. It was essential in Alaska. In the 20's it won't be, in the -10's it might be.

Yeah, I forget off the top of my head the temp #, but the 71-2 says, below certain temps keep the inverter off for APU start. Of course, you need to turn it on to check your fire light, but then switch it off, turn the APU on, and DON'T FORGET TO TELL THE CONTROL STICK ACTUATOR TO TURN THE INVERTER BACK ON BEFORE STARTING ENGINES.

Keep a nit-cart and coleman on standby during launches. We would often have struts collapse taxiing from the pens to EOR. EOR would call and we'd hustle out there to bump it up at EOR.
As long as the struts are *properly* serviced every time they're serviced on mids (that is, by the T.O.) this will be less of an issue. Just bumping the struts up or down works fine most of the time, but the extreme cold is less forgiving to this practice.

Winter fuel loads, moving a jet from outside to a hanger especially a heated hanger. 10,300lbs of fuel is what we target. Cold fuel expands when warmed...a cold full jet will vent and cause a mess when put in to a warm hanger over night.

Thanks guys, keep em coming if you have more tips!

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SoWW #2485
Cave Putorium!