Any recommendations for training when your airplane is FIKI equipped?

[AggieMike88]

Tomorrow's forecasts for Groundhog Day here in DFW are going to be an arctic cold front hitting mid-morning, precipitation happening mid-afternoon, turning into freezing rain, sleet, and maybe snow overnight.

These weather events got paired up in my mind with my commercial pilot gig flying doctors from the KADS/KTKI to KPRX and a few other spots. The airplane is not equipped for FIKI.

But the question I came up with is, what if it was?

In addition to reading up on whatever FIKI systems my mythical airplane would have (knowing what they are, how they work, limitations, etc), is it prudent to have any specific training? Ground only? Flight too?

I have zero experience with ice. All I know is the general book stuff.

What about some flight time with the right instructor to practice procedures? So if I did get caught in it, I have better experience/knowledge on how to get out of trouble.

 

[RussR]

It’s really hard to do any worthwhile “simulation” of ice or icing. I fly a few FIKI aircraft and have several clients with them, and the question has come up before. Unfortunately, the only real answer is you get experience when you get it. You can read all the book information (and you should), but when it gets right down to it, short of actually intentionally seeking out icing conditions, you’re stuck with not seeing it until you see it.

Fortunately, in many/most airplanes, the first action is preventive - turn on all the electric stuff when conditions are ripe for icing (pitot heat, stall heat, prop heat, windshield heat, etc as appropriate). For the non-electric stuff (alcohol, TKS, etc), usually I think you wait until you have some evidence of ice building. For boots, POHs have different recommendations on whether to wait for some buildup or not, depending on when the airplane was made, and therefore the technology of the boots.

Regarding boots, I know the boots on a 1970s Cessna 340 I was in last week inflated much much slower than the 2010 PA-46 I regularly fly.

 

[MauleSkinner]

It’s really hard to do any worthwhile “simulation” of ice or icing. I fly a few FIKI aircraft and have several clients with them, and the question has come up before. Unfortunately, the only real answer is you get experience when you get it. You can read all the book information (and you should), but when it gets right down to it, short of actually intentionally seeking out icing conditions, you’re stuck with not seeing it until you see it.

Fortunately, in many/most airplanes, the first action is preventive - turn on all the electric stuff when conditions are ripe for icing (pitot heat, stall heat, prop heat, windshield heat, etc as appropriate). For the non-electric stuff (alcohol, TKS, etc), usually I think you wait until you have some evidence of ice building. For boots, POHs have different recommendations on whether to wait for some buildup or not, depending on when the airplane was made, and therefore the technology of the boots.

Regarding boots, I know the boots on a 1970s Cessna 340 I was in last week inflated much much slower than the 2010 PA-46 I regularly fly.

Alcohol and TKS are “anti ice” systems, and technically should be on prior to icing.

Make sure you know and adhere to minimum speeds in icing.

don’t be so impressed with how clean your system keeps the airplane that you fly in stuff that would kill you if you had a failure in the system. I had a training client with a FIKI TKS system on his Baron. He was flying around fat, dumb, and happy in some really nasty icing.

 

[Kristin]

Other than the icing experience gained flying the Great Lakes and SE Alaska, the way I learned the most was from talking to pilots with experience and learning what their strategies were, in various conditions. While a good understand of the weather is helpful, ice is where you find it. It is easy to identify the few times you are almost guaranteed to get ice and it is obviously easy to know when you won't. But if there are clouds and the temps are near freezing or colder, it is a crapshoot most of the time.

 

[RussR]

Alcohol and TKS are “anti ice” systems, and technically should be on prior to icing.

I'll defer to you on that as my experience with TKS and alcohol systems is very minimal.

But I'd also be willing to bet that few pilots turn them on just because they entered a cloud that was near freezing. Seems like you'd go through a whole lot of fluid that way! I bet that most wait until they see SOME proof of icing, which to me actually seems reasonable for something that has a finite supply.

 

[MauleSkinner]

I'll defer to you on that as my experience with TKS and alcohol systems is very minimal.

But I'd also be willing to bet that few pilots turn them on just because they entered a cloud that was near freezing. Seems like you'd go through a whole lot of fluid that way! I bet that most wait until they see SOME proof of icing, which to me actually seems reasonable for something that has a finite supply.

Everyone I flew with turned them on before entering potential icing. But maybe I flew with the few.

although with alcohol systems, I generally let the windshield ice up to save it for the props.

 

[LesGawlik]

Do the high end Redbird simulators simulate ice?

 

[RussR]

Do the high end Redbird simulators simulate ice?

Unless the newer versions are dramatically better than the FMX, they barely simulate "normal" flying in any realistic manner, let alone ice.

 

[Plano Pilot]

I got almost all of my ice training flying with more experienced pilots. I now have time with hot wings, boots and TKS. Love the hot wings except for the climb power it robs. TKS works well if you turn it on before icing starts. TKS takes a while to get flowing properly for protection.

I introduced a newish Citation CP to icing this morning at ABI, Abilene, TX, for a drop off of passengers. Got light rime in the approach, popped the boots, it warmed up and the ice was gone by 1000 agl. FZRA was moving in, and it was 33 degrees on the ground with rain. I had fueled for the round trip, so we were only on the ground for 17 minutes. No ice on departure. FZRA started 42 minutes after we departed. Back home nice and warm! I had talked the passengers into moving their departure time up or we would be stuck there because the FBO does not have deicing and the hangars were full.