The coldest I have seen and worked in was in Summerville, Me in 1977. That was -35F and we had to move my brother in law as they were freezing in a house trailer. In fact the propane furnace ran non stop and only warmed the trailer to 40F. Frost was formed on the walls.
Lowest outside air temp you've observed?
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Ha.
I've actually worked in -45. It was a few years ago. I had to bring my compressor in the house at night and start it in my kitchen,then haul it out to my truck and drive the hour to works with the compressor running.
I had to mix alcohol in with the gun oil so it would pour.
I was so broke I had to work though. We were the only crew onsite. It was when I first started my business. Guys still talk about us and how we will work in anything.
It was so cold the firing pins in the guns shattered and we ended up having to hand nail til I could get the nailers home to rebuild them.
With the wind it was something like -65 or something stupid.
If you had to pee it was frozen before it hit the ground.
Unreal.
I've actually worked in -45. It was a few years ago. I had to bring my compressor in the house at night and start it in my kitchen,then haul it out to my truck and drive the hour to works with the compressor running.
I had to mix alcohol in with the gun oil so it would pour.
I was so broke I had to work though. We were the only crew onsite. It was when I first started my business. Guys still talk about us and how we will work in anything.
It was so cold the firing pins in the guns shattered and we ended up having to hand nail til I could get the nailers home to rebuild them.
With the wind it was something like -65 or something stupid.
If you had to pee it was frozen before it hit the ground.
Unreal.
In the air, TAT is more relevant than OAT. OAT is interesting, but TAT drives fuel temp. Freeze point for Jet A1 is about -47C. Get close to that, and you can start getting fuel gelling in the tanks, especially wing tanks. Most aircraft have a fuel temp warning at about -42 C. You can raise that TAT for a given OAT by going faster. For flying over the pole, where OAT was often -65 C, United would sample the fuel uploaded on that flight to determine the actual freeze point. It was often a couple degrees below spec (that's a good variation), then datalink that to the crew so they could better manage fuel temp. Incidentally, when the fuel gets to the engine, it is warmed by the oil cooler, so you're only pumping super gold fuel into the engine itself.
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stupid auto-correct...
A few other points: no, it can't get much colder than -65C...the air simply doesn't get much colder.
Further, the lapse rate (change in temperature with altitude) stops at the tropopause...in the stratosphere, the temperature begins to rise with temperature...of course, the air is so thin, that it's a somewhat academic effect.
A few other points: no, it can't get much colder than -65C...the air simply doesn't get much colder.
Further, the lapse rate (change in temperature with altitude) stops at the tropopause...in the stratosphere, the temperature begins to rise with temperature...of course, the air is so thin, that it's a somewhat academic effect.
Around negative 35-38C, is as cold as I've been in a few times. Never with any kind of wind though so it wasn't really that bad at all.
-25C with a good wind is worse if you aren't dressed for it.
We were icefishing yesterday in -22C but mostly still and sunny so it was quite nice, but my beer was freezing and coating the inside the neck of the bottle...
-25C with a good wind is worse if you aren't dressed for it.
We were icefishing yesterday in -22C but mostly still and sunny so it was quite nice, but my beer was freezing and coating the inside the neck of the bottle...
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Around negative 35-38C, is as cold as I've been in a few times. Never with any kind of wind though so it wasn't really that bad at all.
-25C with a good wind is worse if you aren't dressed for it.
We were icefishing yesterday in -22C but mostly still and sunny so it was quite nice, but my beer was freezing and coating the inside the neck of the bottle...
I've lived right on Georgian bay and Ontario cold is different than Saskatchewan cold.
Ontario and the humidity is a painful cold to be out in. -25 feels a whole lot colder.
Around negative 35-38C, is as cold as I've been in a few times. Never with any kind of wind though so it wasn't really that bad at all.
-25C with a good wind is worse if you aren't dressed for it.
We were icefishing yesterday in -22C but mostly still and sunny so it was quite nice, but my beer was freezing and coating the inside the neck of the bottle...
I've lived right on Georgian bay and Ontario cold is different than Saskatchewan cold.
Ontario and the humidity is a painful cold to be out in. -25 feels a whole lot colder.
Originally Posted By: Astro14
A few other points: no, it can't get much colder than -65C...the air simply doesn't get much colder.
Thanks. That's basically what I was trying to figure out when I started this thread.
Not sure why others jumped in with posts about how cold it was in their back yard when I specifically asked about commercial airliners, but thanks to them anyway.
A few other points: no, it can't get much colder than -65C...the air simply doesn't get much colder.
Thanks. That's basically what I was trying to figure out when I started this thread.
Not sure why others jumped in with posts about how cold it was in their back yard when I specifically asked about commercial airliners, but thanks to them anyway.
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Around negative 35-38C, is as cold as I've been in a few times. Never with any kind of wind though so it wasn't really that bad at all.
-25C with a good wind is worse if you aren't dressed for it.
We were icefishing yesterday in -22C but mostly still and sunny so it was quite nice, but my beer was freezing and coating the inside the neck of the bottle...
I've lived right on Georgian bay and Ontario cold is different than Saskatchewan cold.
Ontario and the humidity is a painful cold to be out in. -25 feels a whole lot colder.
100% humidity even at -10C does feel a bit colder than you would think but the windchill effects at -20C and lower out west are something to be respected! My parents are from southern manitoba and talk about the 30/30/30 rule. -30F in 30 mph wind freezes skin in 30 seconds...
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Around negative 35-38C, is as cold as I've been in a few times. Never with any kind of wind though so it wasn't really that bad at all.
-25C with a good wind is worse if you aren't dressed for it.
We were icefishing yesterday in -22C but mostly still and sunny so it was quite nice, but my beer was freezing and coating the inside the neck of the bottle...
I've lived right on Georgian bay and Ontario cold is different than Saskatchewan cold.
Ontario and the humidity is a painful cold to be out in. -25 feels a whole lot colder.
100% humidity even at -10C does feel a bit colder than you would think but the windchill effects at -20C and lower out west are something to be respected! My parents are from southern manitoba and talk about the 30/30/30 rule. -30F in 30 mph wind freezes skin in 30 seconds...
As a flight engineer many years ago, I regularly saw -70 over Florida and Southern states. A bit warmer up north at times.
And the coldest I've ever seen was -125f, however, that may have been an indication error. As I've never seen that before or since.
And the coldest I've ever seen was -125f, however, that may have been an indication error. As I've never seen that before or since.
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Ha.
I've actually worked in -45. It was a few years ago. I had to bring my compressor in the house at night and start it in my kitchen,then haul it out to my truck and drive the hour to works with the compressor running.
I had to mix alcohol in with the gun oil so it would pour.
I was so broke I had to work though. We were the only crew onsite. It was when I first started my business. Guys still talk about us and how we will work in anything.
It was so cold the firing pins in the guns shattered and we ended up having to hand nail til I could get the nailers home to rebuild them.
With the wind it was something like -65 or something stupid.
If you had to pee it was frozen before it hit the ground.
Unreal.
Actually you bring up a good point. Most vanadium steels will start shattering below about 0F. So it makes sense, for example, when one has to use impact tools, to prewarm the tools prior to use.
It is a relevant issue when doing polar ops with aircraft, and servicing those aircraft on the ground.
Ha.
I've actually worked in -45. It was a few years ago. I had to bring my compressor in the house at night and start it in my kitchen,then haul it out to my truck and drive the hour to works with the compressor running.
I had to mix alcohol in with the gun oil so it would pour.
I was so broke I had to work though. We were the only crew onsite. It was when I first started my business. Guys still talk about us and how we will work in anything.
It was so cold the firing pins in the guns shattered and we ended up having to hand nail til I could get the nailers home to rebuild them.
With the wind it was something like -65 or something stupid.
If you had to pee it was frozen before it hit the ground.
Unreal.
Actually you bring up a good point. Most vanadium steels will start shattering below about 0F. So it makes sense, for example, when one has to use impact tools, to prewarm the tools prior to use.
It is a relevant issue when doing polar ops with aircraft, and servicing those aircraft on the ground.
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-38C (-36.5F) was the coldest I remember as a kid.
Here in Fairbanks, it's pretty common to see temperatures edging below -40F. The coldest weather I've flown in was probably 0F, which in a cessna 150 is pretty cold.
It's actually so cold that the heater doesn't put out enough heat to keep the inside much warmer, and your fingers are cold enough to freeze to the throttle control.
What's fascinating to me is the inversion layer you find when passing through about 2000 feet, where it goes from zero to twenty above at around 3000ft.
It's actually so cold that the heater doesn't put out enough heat to keep the inside much warmer, and your fingers are cold enough to freeze to the throttle control.
What's fascinating to me is the inversion layer you find when passing through about 2000 feet, where it goes from zero to twenty above at around 3000ft.
Okay, so with a BITOG nickname of r2800...what exactly do you do that involves big radial engines?
Cheers,
Astro
Cheers,
Astro
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Okay, so with a BITOG nickname of r2800...what exactly do you do that involves big radial engines?
Cheers,
Astro
Everts air cargo here in Fairbanks operates DC-6's which use R2800's. I have some friends that work there as mechanics, and I may be working there myself there soon.
Okay, so with a BITOG nickname of r2800...what exactly do you do that involves big radial engines?
Cheers,
Astro
Everts air cargo here in Fairbanks operates DC-6's which use R2800's. I have some friends that work there as mechanics, and I may be working there myself there soon.
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