On Dec 16, 12:12 pm, Jay Honeck wrote:
It has not been VFR a single day that my son has been available to fly
since he got his ticket (and took me for my first ride) back on
November 26th. He's getting really, really frustrated -- but all I
can think is that it's a darned good thing he took that check-ride
when he did.

Heck, Mary and I have only flown once in December -- it's been just
awful weather. Our only fly-in guest this month has been this group's
own NWPilot, flying a brand, new $600K Cirrus. He departed yesterday
into a driving snowstorm that kept everyone else grounded... (Nothing
like TKS and a nearly fully-automated aircraft!)

This is really starting to look like a brutal winter around these
parts...

Maybe a good time to start working on the instrument rating! I've
convinced myself that the next plane I buy will have TKS. I've look at
a few but I'm still stuck in the "I have to justify this purchase
mode". The Cirrus is probably not the best TKS platform. It leaves
a large section of the wing uncovered as well as the giant wheel
pants. A couple Cirrus's have gone down in ice and the suspection is
that they couldn't carry the weght in these areas (even though the
flying surfaces were kept clear). The Mooney is possibly the ideal TKS
platform with nearly the entire facing of the aircraft protected. To
my knowledge there has never been a case of a TKS Mooney going down in
ice.

-Robert