wrote:

: This weekend in WI was a perfect case of airmets galore, but good planning
: wouldn't have prevented flying due to ice. Overcast at 2700, clear above
: 3000.(4000 MSL) light to moderate rime ICIP airmet blanketing the entire
: state. VFR both south and north of us, surface temps between 40 and 45F.
: Freezing level 4000 MSL north sloping to 6000 MSL south. ADDS was
: predicting a 80-90% chance of icing at 6000, nothing at 3000, and nothing at
: 9000. The "go" decision could be made because the clouds at 2700-3000 AGL
: were below the freezing level and it was clear above, so the airmet didn't
: have any weather that it applied to. Be careful when using ADDS that you
: remember ceilings are AGL, icing predictions are MSL. So, we could have
: taken off, climbed through the ceiling into clear air.

: What if we come upon a layer at 6000 where ADDS said 80-90% chance of ice?

: What are our outs?
: 1) Climb above it, ADDS predicted 0% at 9000, climb is always my first
: choice. you can climb before you accumulate ice, you can always go down.

: 2) descend below it and continue, MEA is 3000 MSL

: 3) descend through it and land

: 4) turn around and fly back into clear weather

: 5) turn 90 degrees to the system and fly around it, this requires knowledge
: of the area of coverage and conditions surrounding it, plus additional fuel.

6) Stay VFR at 2500 AGL? If it's overcast at 2700, staying out of the iced-up soup
altogether seems like a good plan as well. I'd rather be at 1500 AGL in VMC than
slogging through the soup waiting for ice to start accumulating and have to choose an
"out"

Except 200' below the clouds doesn't meet the VFR minimums in most
classes of airspace.

Matt