My first encounter with icing (long).

Thanks for sharing that @tawood . VFR or IFR, freezing precip has always been my #1 fear when flying in the winter, and I did quite a lot of it in Michigan. Never encountered it there, but there but for the grace of God... sounds like you did good once you had no choice but to continue to land. In the future I'll bet you'll be a lot more hesitant to launch when there is any chance of running into the bad stuff. Fly safe.
 
I have had a few encounters with icing as well.. (actually have it on video) It was not forecast when I took off from 80 degree weather and flew back home.. hit a front that was moving faster than forecasted. I was on top at 8000' and still showing almost +5C or more.. I started my decent and upon entering the clouds...here come the PIREPS of Rime ice. The cloud layer was only 3000ish feet thick.. I elected to continue my decent but picked up a bit of ice.. it melted about 2000' AGL.. not exactly fun but the airplane flew fine (I am not saying it's ok to do this)

I planned and was careful but still encountered it.. I filed IFR below the bases for the 2nd leg :)
 
mscard88 said:
getting carb heat on w/ full power a good decision.
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Actually, this is the one thing that I questioned. (Great job, by the way, Tawood. Thanks for sharing.) I am not sure that I would have put on the carb heat as a matter of course. I would want to wait until I see some signs that my primary air source has been restricted by ice. At full power, he's probably not going to get carb ice, so I probably wouldn't have applied it prophylactically. But, what do others think?
 
Great job! Can't second guess what you did because it worked. If you had to get the plane down NOW, you did just that. I can't imagine doing what you did if you had to use only the side window for reference at an unfamiliar field.

Would flaps have helped? Or hurt due to reduced flow over the elevator? Mighty tempting to drop flaps to drop stall speed.
 
tawood said:
As I start to align myself up to enter the pattern, I start to get the sensation that my engine throttle has been pulled back, even though it is still droning along at the same pitch/rpms. I look at my airspeed: I’ve lost about 10 knots, and I’m also slowly descending below pattern altitude, while unconsciously adding more back pressure. I add power (with carb heat, so I’m sure the effect of adding power is diminished) and more power, and finally full power, just to maintain altitude. I double check that I’ve turned on the pitot heat.
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I'm wondering if your air cleaner was developing ice. Does your induction system have an ALT AIR that you can engage in the cockpit by pulling a lever? That's how I am supposed to respond to a perceived reduction in power in my plane, although I'm not sure how rapidly I would think of doing it.

Like others, I thank you for sharing your experience.
 
swingwing said:
Yes......it is called “carb heat”
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Yes. Typically the alternate air source is opened by the same control that turns on carb heat. I know that that is true in my plane's case. I presume it's true for the one that Tawood was flying, too.
 
PPC1052 said:
With ice on the wings, wouldn't those numbers be out the window?
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No. They won't be exactly correct, but they are still going to be close. Your planform, wing area, and chord have not changed significantly. When the airfoil shape changes enough to dramatically change best L/D speed, you are really screwed.

Do you have a method to get a better number while flying in the ice?
 
keen9 said:
Do you have a method to get a better number while flying in the ice?
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I understand that some POHs have a recommended airspeed with ice. But if it's not in the POH, I wouldn't know. If I were in the air, I would have to take my cues from what the airframe is telling me. I just don't honestly have any way to know if the book numbers for a clean airframe apply in this situation or not. My question is what is the basis for thinking those numbers are close. I'm not saying they aren't. I just don't have any information one way or the other to go on.
 
Wow. I thought it would take a lot more ice to change how the plan flew. Surprised the ice pictured would cause a problem holding altitude. Thanks for posting, glad you were able to get it down safely

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
denverd1 said:
Wow. I thought it would take a lot more ice to change how the plan flew. Surprised the ice pictured would cause a problem holding altitude. Thanks for posting, glad you were able to get it down safely

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
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It doesn't take much. Anything that changes the airflow around the wing surfaces can affect flight characteristics, and that rough rimy stuff will definitely change the airflow, even if it's only a fraction of an inch thick. It's recommended to not take off with even a thin layer of frost on the lift-producing surfaces.
 
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