Seminole heater question

RyosukeFC

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know if the Janitrol heater on the Seminole can be used on the ground when the EPU is hooked up? I got asked this recently and I've been looking with no luck finding the answer.
 
Hmmm . . . not sure about the Seminole. In the Baron, you can use the heater during ground operations. The landing gear squat switch automatically turns the blower on anytime the heater is on and the landing gear is extended, to prevent an overheat condition.
 
Does anyone know if the Janitrol heater on the Seminole can be used on the ground when the EPU is hooked up? I got asked this recently and I've been looking with no luck finding the answer.
It can, but the blower must be on; otherwise you'd get an overheat situation and the heater will shut off and can't be restarted unless you exit the plane and reset the switch in the nose.
 
Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

I could have worded the question a little better... I need to know if when you hook up an external power unit (to the plug on the nose) and start the left engine, can you go ahead and turn on the heater before unplugging the power unit and starting the right engine? I know that the heater gets its fuel from the left fuel selector so I'm thinking it might be a yes. I couldn't find anything in the POH saying not to.
 
Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

I could have worded the question a little better... I need to know if when you hook up an external power unit (to the plug on the nose) and start the left engine, can you go ahead and turn on the heater before unplugging the power unit and starting the right engine? I know that the heater gets its fuel from the left fuel selector so I'm thinking it might be a yes. I couldn't find anything in the POH saying not to.

Yes you can with it plugged in, however I learned not to run the heater on the ground for long periods, Even with the blower on, there is a chance that it will blow the switch, and you cant reset it inside the plane, (have to shut down the engines, and reset it in the nose) which means you will have a cold flight if it overheats. I did some flights (in my sleeping bag) around OR, at night in the winter, and about froze to death. trust me, Im not a fan of them heaters.
 
:yeahthat: What West Indian and Fly Unity said!
It can be done but not for long periods of time. I wonder if I would scare the crap out of me if I tried flying the Seminole now? Any of former instructors out there get back into a trainer/GA plane after flying 121/135/ etc. Did you have to check your shorts afterwards?
 
On my Apache, you can run the heater without ground power, but I'd guess the blower would drain the battery pretty fast.
 
:yeahthat: What West Indian and Fly Unity said!
It can be done but not for long periods of time. I wonder if I would scare the crap out of me if I tried flying the Seminole now? Any of former instructors out there get back into a trainer/GA plane after flying 121/135/ etc. Did you have to check your shorts afterwards?

A month or two ago I flew a 172 and it was cool . . . of course, I don't wear underwear . . .
 
Ryan, you aren't missing anything special

SERIOUSLY

172's look really big to me now. I'm shoulder to shoulder with my knees hitting the yoke everyday in the 152
 
Ryan, you aren't missing anything special

SERIOUSLY

172's look really big to me now. I'm shoulder to shoulder with my knees hitting the yoke everyday in the 152

eh..we are not doing any training in them, just for timebuilding. I'm just going to go spin the hell outa them when i get a chance.
 
"Crap, is it 110 HP?"

The older ones are 110, which can be increased to 115 with a prop mod. The 110's red line at 2550 RPM while the prop mod allows a 2700 RPM red line. The newer 152's had a slightly derated engine (lower compression) that only gave 108 hp. I'm sure you won't notice the difference.
 
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