Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:59:09 -0000, dennis@home wrote:

Besides which, it's colder at altitude and diesel aircraft
successfully
addressed these issues in the 1930s.
IIRC jumbos flying over the arctic have to check the fuel temp
periodically and turn back if its too cold.

But jet engines don't run on diesel they run on kerosene, which is
much thinner in the first place (28sec v 35sec) and is added to
diesel to keep the wax that causes the problems in solution...

They pre heat the fuel on loading if its very cold.

Wouldn't have though that would have made much difference after a few
hours of flight with outside temps around -40C at 30 odd thousand
feet. Might make a difference in starting on the ground when it's
cold through.

In 24 years of working with aircraft, I never saw or heard of an
aircraft engine that would not start in cold weather.

If the wind was blowing up the exhaust of the engine, you could have a
problem lighting that little candle in the middle if the engine though.
The solution was to hold a large board over the exhaust until you felt
it being blown backwards and then duck and walk sideways away.

Dave