A C182 pilot took off with the cowl plugs still in place. He experienced high oil temperature and lo...

Attributes
ACN	822956
Time
Date	200902
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 3200 Flight Crew Type 10
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

Normal takeoff from ZZZ going for lunch at ZZZ1. During cruise at 2;000 ft; I smelled something hot. Being a new plane to me; it took longer than it otherwise might have to realize something was wrong. I noticed the oil temperature climbing and the oil pressure falling. I called ZZZ tower and declared an emergency while squawking 7700. I was cleared to land on runway 11 and did without further incident. I had followed a checklist for the preflight. It did not mention cowl nose plugs. My old plane had red plugs in a white cowl. They had a red streamer and a rope between them. This plane had a red cowl and red plugs almost the same color with no rope or streamer. I will be making a new checklist. The plugs will get a rope and streamer. All the tower and ground personnel were very helpful and acted professionally.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C182 pilot took off with the cowl plugs still in place. He experienced high oil temperature and low oil pressure; declared an emergency; and diverted to the nearest suitable airport.

Narrative: Normal takeoff from ZZZ going for lunch at ZZZ1. During cruise at 2;000 FT; I smelled something hot. Being a new plane to me; it took longer than it otherwise might have to realize something was wrong. I noticed the oil temperature climbing and the oil pressure falling. I called ZZZ Tower and declared an emergency while squawking 7700. I was cleared to land on Runway 11 and did without further incident. I had followed a checklist for the preflight. It did not mention cowl nose plugs. My old plane had red plugs in a white cowl. They had a red streamer and a rope between them. This plane had a red cowl and red plugs almost the same color with no rope or streamer. I will be making a new checklist. The plugs will get a rope and streamer. All the Tower and Ground personnel were very helpful and acted professionally.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.