wheelsup said:
Yeah, riddle had a way of keeping people way too sheltered. Hell, even in the barons that MAPD had I refused to go into icing conditions. I had a really bad experience my first time with ice, at night, in a single. I can't imagine what goes through ya'lls heads all alone up there on a daily basis, in an aircraft that at best is marginal in ice.
I take it you didn't leave yourself an out in the single? Yes, that would make your viewpoint skewed towards staying out of ice at all costs. However, in real life, when you get paid to fly from point A to point B in an airplane, you may have to go via point C to get there to avoid the worst of the stuff, or climb above it, or get below it, or whatever your experience tells you to do, but you can almost always get it done.
As far as the Van being marginal at best, from what I've experienced over this past winter flying the Van mostly, I never even came close to what the FAA defines as "moderate" icing. According to them, if you lose more than 20 kts during cruise, have to add more than 400 ft/lbs of torque (we're always at max torque anyways, or one of our other red lines) to maintain, have more than 1/4 inch of ice on the strut, or get below 120 kts (which is impossible if you are cruising at 150 normally, since you can't drop more than 20 kts), then you are in Moderate icing. The most I've lost during cruise is 10 kts and I was pretty iced up, for my comfort level. That's when you ask for block altitudes, etc. and keep on going, or go to option 2 or 3 or whatever you have to do, but always keep flying the plane. If it really came down to it, I'd put it down on a road or field if push comes to shove when it comes to icing, rather than auger it in.
As far as what goes through my head, always stay ahead of the conditions, and always have at least 3 options just in case the first 2 don't work out. Most of the time, I have several options, and most icing, from my experience, lets you have a way out as long as you know what you're doing.
I'd definitely be interested to hear how you scared yourself so badly in the icing...
wheelsup said:
A true story - one of my students had an instrument checkride. During the oral the question "would you go or not?" came up. My student sad no - clouds and temps in the icing range (slightly below freezing) at cruise. The examiner actually chewed him out and said why not? If you encounter icing you can just turn around...WTF? Why intentionally put yourself in that situation... (in an aircraft with no icing protection except defrost and pitot heat? This was from an experienced DE who flew corporate.
I'm not sure I'd argue with that decision by your instrument stud, but once it comes to COMM, or higher, I'd tend to side with the examiner. The only way your going to learn is to get out there and do it. Actually experience it to see what it's all about. Now, if they're calling for Moderate or greater, and PIREPS show Moderate or greater, then you don't go getting into trouble. You stay on the ground, but if you just see there might be an overcast and it might be around freezing, but you stay on the ground, you may never fly in some locations during the winter. If you're working on your COMM, he, as examiner, is making sure you can get paid to fly and won't kill yourself doing so.
At Airnet, while in training, the exact quote from the training dept, since most of us had little icing experience and some of us, myself included, were apprehensive about it, was while the icing levels are still high, go up and experience it, before you really have to go through it, so you know what it's all about.
They have never questioned me on any decision I've made, and I've been late before due to t-storms (going around the worst stuff, etc) and icing (block altitudes, etc., climbing into worse winds to sat out of the bad stuff), and all they said was ok, thanks for the info...they needed it to justify being late. I have never cancelled a flight, have yet to delay a flight, and haven't experienced half of what's out there. I've had the pucker factor go up, but never, in a year of flying night 135 SP ops, scared myself. I know it might come, but I definitely have an appreciation for the weather and for what I can and can't do.
