I have to read the AIM again, but last year I thought it said that you were
not allowed to fly into known or forcasted icing in a plane not equipped for
icing.

As for percent of time, anytime you have visible moisture or are in the
clouds, and the outside temp is freezing. weather reports will give you the
freezing level.

The smart thing to do is to avoid icing like the plague. Its bad stuff and
can build up quick on your windscreen and wings.
Alot of people will tell you you can fly into it, and when you pick up ice
you can go up or down and get out of it. Read the NTSB reports this winter
see how many people bet their life on it and lost.

Last winter I took a flight into clouds, icing was forcasted at 10,000 ft,
we went up to 9000, broke out in between some layers, I was with my first
instrument instructor, he wanted to be in the clouds, so he asked control
for 11,000 so we would be in the clouds again, I told him icing was reported
at 10k, he said dont worry, we will be ok, we can always go up or down...I
told him ok, but if you kill me I will come back and haunt you forever. I
will tell you right now, its a big mistake to go into known or forcasted
icing. I wont do it again. I told him after we encountered some problems
that I was going back and called center. He was mad, but it didnt matter, I
fired his ass as soon as we were on the ground.

Jeff


"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote:

I KNOW this is a big can of worms, but I have a specific question
relating to sub-paragraphs b.1 and b.2 of this regulation regarinding
operating in icing conditions.

It says "...no pilot may fly--
(1) Under IFR into konwn or forecast moderate icing conditions; or
(2) Under VFR into known light or moderate icing conditions..."

This seems odd. Why do you suppose the standards are different for IFR
and VFR ("moderate" vs "light or moderate)? Icing affects a pilots
ability to control the aircraft, so I do not see how instrument training
allows one to venture into worse conditions.

So, if there is an airmet for "light icing", then it is legal for an IFR
pilot to enter the clouds (of course, on a valid IFR flight plan)?

What perectnage of the time, during winter, do icing forecasts get
issued whenever there are IFR conditions? In other words, in y'alls
experience, if you get 100 briefings during the winter time that include
IFR conditions, what perecntage of those will also have icing forecast.
My intuition says that it will be upwards of 90-100% (I am a
relatively new IFR pilot, so I do not have the experience base to
say...looking for other opinions here). If it is close to 100%, should
I just hang up my IFR certificate from Sept to May (I live in Wisconsin,
so we only have about 30 minutes of summer here per year ).

-Sami