Carb ice? (and beating myself up...)

[Robert Rice]

Doesn't anybody teach to combine carb heat with mixture adjustment to raise the EGT to avoid losing the engine altogether? I also see the recommendation from the Cessna (?) operating manual is to go full rich which would just make severe carb icing worse.

Or is it just because of my experience & expectations with small engines?

Nobody I know teaches anything but FULL RICH, CARB HEAT... you know the drill. But everyone trains between 2,000-6,000 feet - so there is that. When I was a bush pilot in Guatemala, working at very high altitude strips, mixture was always a consideration.

 

[danhagan]

I have never had it and I always think when it happens, I am not going to think to pull that knob.

Only had carb ice once .... CFI was on-board. He said "Kiss" principle ... keep it simple (but didn't add the stupid part).

CRAM anytime there's an RPM drop: He meant the throttle quadrant (MIX, CARB Heat and Throttle to full, tank change and boost pump). After this only option left is mags and if it's not that, you'll be landing that emergency spot you picked after setting best glide ...

 

[William Pete Hodges]

My first airplane was a Cherokee 140 and when it was delivered the carb heat knob was frozen in the off position, after two different mechanics inspected the plane! I used PB blaster to free it up and used it below 2100 RPM on every flight. In 14 years I only had one carb ice incident, and I didn't recognize it as carb ice at the time. My friend and I were flying to Bryce Resort for lunch and were cruising about 2300 RPM, just a joy ride, and the engine started running slightly rough. After landing I called my AI and he immediately said carb ice. Temperature was in the mid 70s and there visible clouds. We had the same situation on the way home and carb heat cleared it almost immediately. Lesson learned! Don't beat yourself up. It can happen to all of us.