Bundling Up Your Aircraft for Winter

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.

The text arrived at about 9 a.m. My friend Jim, also a Cessna 170B owner, informed me that he had just returned from a nearby lake, where he took some measurements and confirmed that the ice was plenty thick to land on.

Additionally, the ice was beautiful—a clean, glass-like surface with no snow cover whatsoever. And to top it all off, a major ice boat competition was taking place that day, so we’d be able to land on the lake and watch the lithe, sail-powered crafts streak around the course at blistering speeds.

Donning my warmest winter gear, I raced out to the hangar and plugged in my engine heater. I hoped that 45 minutes would be sufficient time to warm the oil. I had, after all, invested in the best engine heater I could find.

But when I attempted to start it, it simply wouldn’t start. Even the best engine heaters need more than 45 minutes to fully warm an ice-cold engine.

By that time, Jim had arrived overhead. We had originally planned on meeting up in the air and then proceeding to the lake together, but seeing me pushing my plane back into the hangar, he landed to see what the trouble was. I ultimately ended up hopping into his plane and enjoying the ice landing and ice boat racing as a passenger.

It was a great time, but I vowed to never let that happen again.

Heading into the impending winter, I think I’m finally well-prepared. I’ve still got my Reiff engine heater, which I very much like. But in an attempt to increase its effectiveness and reduce the amount of time required to bring the engine up to temperature, I splurged and bought a custom-fitted engine cover from Bruce’s Custom Covers.

For the record, I paid the full (albeit EAA AirVenture-discounted) price and am not being compensated for this review.

The buying process at Bruce’s Custom Covers is unlike that of any airplane part or accessory I’ve experienced.

After placing your order, you take an assortment of photos and a handful of specific measurements to guide the craftsperson making your cover. Photos from all around your engine cowl are requested, and it’s as simple as snapping a dozen or so shots with a phone and emailing them to the address on the order form.

To ensure a snug fit, the company requests several measurements, including the clearance between the spinner and forward lip of the cowl intakes, as well as the diameter of the shaft between the prop and cowl. In my case, the latter is a particularly useful piece of information for it to have, as my plane still has a large-diameter aluminum pulley in that spot.

Prior to my instrument panel upgrade, that pulley drove a hideously massive aftermarket vacuum pump. Had I purchased an off-the-shelf cover, I doubt it would have fit around that pulley.

After submitting the photos and measurements, I had some decisions to make. I had the choice of red, black, or silver, and I went with black in the hopes that it might add a fraction of a degree of heat when parked outside in the sun. For an extra $25, I could have had my tail number stitched onto the cover, but I’ve got a custom tail number in mind for the future and passed on that option.

I did upgrade the cover to the thicker, quilted, insulated version, however. In addition to holding the heat inside the cowl more effectively, it’s also manufactured from a water-repellent material. Just the ticket on those occasions where you’re forced to park outdoors for any length of time. 

Bruce’s Custom Covers offers the option of adding access flaps for an additional fee. With this choice, you could open up the flap and check the oil level without having to remove the entire engine cover.

In hindsight, I wish I had opted for this, but it’s a very minor inconvenience. I did, however, decide on an access flap for the left intake so I could easily plug in the engine heater, and this was money well spent.

When the cover arrived, I was impressed. The workmanship is fantastic, with nice, heavy fabric and nice stitching. I’m confident the cover will last for decades. 

My complaints are few, and each could have been eliminated if I had known to ask about them beforehand.

For example, the fitment around my exhaust stacks is just a bit too snug, so I’m forced to wrestle with the cover to get each stack to slip into its respective pocket. I dislike having to place any amount of stress on the exhaust, so if I were to place the order again, I would have asked for a slightly looser fit around the stacks.

I’d also be interested in a solution for oil drips from the engine and breather tube. My breather tube drains a bit when the engine is plugged in and piping hot, and like many Continental owners, I’ve got a minor but persistent oil drip to contend with. So, it would be nice if the bottom section of the cover could be opened up or rolled back to allow these drips to fall to the ground rather than onto the fabric.

Overall, I’m quite happy with my purchase from Bruce’s Custom Covers. Now, nestled within a thick, insulated cover, my engine will require less time to fully warm up when plugged in. Additionally, when I finally make it out to some frozen lakes on my own, I’ll be able to hop out and install the cover in seconds to help ensure the engine remains warm for longer and starts when it’s time to head home.

Because as frustrating as it is for a stubborn engine not to start and ruin a trip to a frozen lake, it’s infinitely more problematic for the stubbornness to occur out on the ice when it’s time to return home.

Pros of the Bruce’s covers:

Cons of the Bruce’s covers: