Originally Posted by
megan
Friend spent some time flying in Antarctica and had a visit by a Russian AN-2, asked the crew what the strange pipe was sticking from the top of the fuselage, aaahh, that's the heater exhaust, sure enough, a look inside showed the fuel supply, a bag of coal alongside a pot belly. Rather than inflight I'd assume an addition for surviving in extremis conditions.
In a way, not that far from the usual gas-fired heaters, basically open flame furnaces, in the nose (or tail) of most piston-engine twins.