A frozen brake line on a Cessna 172 in Fargo made me change my winter check routine

I was doing a pre-flight on a rental 172 last January when the right brake pedal went straight to the floor. It was parked outside overnight in Fargo, and the temp was about 10 below. I traced it to a tiny bit of moisture in the line that froze and blocked it. I had to get a heat gun and a blanket on it for twenty minutes to thaw it out. Now I always add a check for brake fluid moisture and a quick pedal pump test to my cold weather pre-flights, even if the plane was in a hangar. Has anyone else run into this, or do you have a different step you add when it gets really cold?

3 comments

3 Comments

patricia55822d ago

That frozen brake line story is a good reminder. I had a similar scare with a stiff rudder pedal on a cold morning. Now I make a point to work all the controls slowly a few times while I'm still tied down, just to feel for any binding.

bettyroberts21d ago

Work all the controls slowly" is smart. I tried that once and managed to smack my own knee with the yoke so hard I saw stars. My preflight checks are now a danger mostly to myself.

grace8920d ago

My old CFI made me do control checks with my eyes closed for three flights in a row. It forces you to go by feel for any stiffness or weird resistance, not just moving them. I still do it that way every time, especially in the cold. You catch stuff like a sticky aileron hinge way before it becomes a real problem. It's saved me from a bad day more than once.