Thread: Glaze Ice
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Old February 3rd 10, 01:10 AM posted to rec.aviation.homebuilt,rec.aviation.ifr,rec.aviation.piloting
Dave[_19_]
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Posts: 70
Default Glaze Ice

There are many stories like this, and they are to be heeded...

I listened to a pilot tell his story about landing with 1/4 inch of
ice on his Archer...

10 Years later, telling his story, his hands were shaking... He
oviously did everything right, and was very lucky he was within the
range of a long runway, as he was decending 300 fpm at full power!

Burned it on at 90 knots, no flaps.

I had no idea a Cherokee could fly at all with that much ice...

The speed with which it can accumulate is legendary.

Cheers!

Dave


On Tue, 2 Feb 2010 15:17:55 -0600, "Anyolmouse"
wrote:


"brian whatcott" wrote in message
m...
I did an Oxford instrument ground school long ago.
One of the weather topics was glaze ice. This was described as

extremely
dangerous, in that supercooled rain could impact and flow to a glassy
ice layer over the wing in seconds, which tended to pull the aircraft
down pronto.

In the last three days, I actually witnessed an event. It was a ground
forecast of "freezing rain". It was devastating. As you know, most of
the US distributes power almost entirely on overhead lines.
In the local (SW Oklahoma) counties, there are trees quite close to
power lines. Tree branches sagged to the ground in minutes and the
majority shed limbs into the road and onto power lines before your

eyes.

Many power poles could not hold up the half-inch coat of ice on the
lines, in a moderate crosswind and splintered - often a half dozen in

a
row. One county (Harmon) estimated about 3 to 4 weeks to repair the

2000
or so power lines that were down on broken poles before electric power
could be restored there.

For people who are used to living in Tornado Alley and don't easily
shock - this was a new one on them! There was a rush on motor
generators. There was no gasoline to be had for a day or more after,

til
the generator sets were set up at strategic gas stations to serve huge
lines of customers.
Some small towns are reporting sewage farm pump failures, others say
went drinking water pump stations out.
The local AM radio station used for emergency reporting, went out

after
a while - its antenna was glazed, which mismatched the transmitter,
which then fried.

The city set up strategic industrial generator sets - of which the
smartest siting after the water and sewage utilities, was at a 24 hour
diner - where the utility crews could go to rest and eat.

Moral: If you fly into glaze ice, fly down or fly up, but fly OUT

quick
as you can!

Brian W


I was attending a AOPA sponsored CFI renewal clinic in Albuquerque
(1986) when an example was given of how fast clear ice could form on a
supercooled airframe in a very short time.

A DC-3/C-47 was landing in the Pacific Northwest. (Washington or Oregon)
They were clear of ice until inside of the outer marker. The ice formed
so fast that adding full power only slowed their sink rate. They crash
landed short of the runway and the rescue crew had to use fire axes to
get the flight crew out. The ice was over 1/4 inch thick over the entire
airplane.

Assuming a 120 mph approach speed and a distance between 3 to 4 miles
from the outer marker to the runway threshold the entire event took less
than two minutes.

I have been searching for information but have not found anything so
far. Since this was part of the course I wonder if anyone else might
recall the story?