Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R wrote:

Cessna 182s vary in their susceptibility to carb ice.
A friend of mine didn't have much trouble until he
had a carb float AD complied with. Since then he has
had a number of character building experiences.

My 182 is the previous model year (64) and I have not
had an obvious in flight carb ice encounter. N2469R
has a carb temp meter so it's possible I've headed off
a few encounters by timely application of heat.

The meter shows an increase in carb temp when approaching
landing with the cowl flaps closed.

As for airframe ice, an ex-Cirrus salesman thinks the
Cirrus with TKS is worse for ice than a stock Skylane.
Apparently it takes much more ice to bring down a Skylane
than a Cirrus.

I don't know how much airframe ice it takes to bring down a Skylane, but
I had the unfortunate experience of finding out that a Skylane will
carry 2" of ice on the leading edge and pitot tube and who knows how
much on the windshield and still fly just fine. It flew a little slowly
as I had to use 24 square to maintain level flight at 9,000 feet and top
of the white arc (110 MPH on my '67 if memory serves), but it handled
just fine. Sure made a racket when I descended into warm air on the
approach. Fortunately, no damage to the tail.


Matt