sold 310 -- now what?

When you fly in a Great Lakes icer that is layering an inch a minute of
impact ice on the airframe, I don't care what you are flying, you are
gonna die... Even the jumbo cattle tubes with heated wings don't fly
IN an icing layer of that magnitude, they use their power to climb or
descend through it at 6000 fpm... Take a GA aircraft into known icing
conditions and you are playing russian roulette...

Denny

Denny wrote:

When you fly in a Great Lakes icer that is layering an inch a minute of
impact ice on the airframe, I don't care what you are flying, you are
gonna die...

It depends on how many minutes you stay there. I got into ice on the
lee side of Lake Erie several years ago in my Skylane. I picked up 1-2"
of ice in less than 5 minutes, but luckily a descent got be into lighter
icing and I was able to continue on to Elmira.

Shedding the ice on the approach was really interesting. I thought I'd
lost the tail after the windshield shed its load all at once. However,
post-flight inspection showed no damage of note.

I'm amazed at how much ice a Skylane will carry and still fly. I was at
full throttle (with the carb heat on as the intake iced over almost
instantly), flying at the top of the white arc and descending at 200
FPM, but the old girl flew fine and carried the ice for nearly an hour
until I descended into the warmer air on the approach.


Matt

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:43:09 -0500, Matt Whiting
wrote:


I'm amazed at how much ice a Skylane will carry and still fly. I was at
full throttle (with the carb heat on as the intake iced over almost
instantly), flying at the top of the white arc and descending at 200
FPM, but the old girl flew fine and carried the ice for nearly an hour
until I descended into the warmer air on the approach.

That reminds me of a flight I made when I was taking instrument
training (which I wasn't able to finish, lost my job) way back when.

We flew a 1892RG from San Jose (KSJC) to Reno (KRNO), through a storm.
We were picking up ice over the Sierra. There was ice all over the
place, and the plane was slowing down. As we descended into Reno, ice
was slushing off the plane. After we landed, big sheets were plopping
off. Looking back, we were lucky it was warmer in Reno.
John Szpara
Affordable Satellite
Fiero Owner 2-84 Indy Pace cars, 86 Coupe, 88 Formula 3.4, 88 Coupe, 88GT

john szpara wrote:
On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:43:09 -0500, Matt Whiting
wrote:



I'm amazed at how much ice a Skylane will carry and still fly. I was at
full throttle (with the carb heat on as the intake iced over almost
instantly), flying at the top of the white arc and descending at 200
FPM, but the old girl flew fine and carried the ice for nearly an hour
until I descended into the warmer air on the approach.


That reminds me of a flight I made when I was taking instrument
training (which I wasn't able to finish, lost my job) way back when.

We flew a 1892RG from San Jose (KSJC) to Reno (KRNO), through a storm.
We were picking up ice over the Sierra. There was ice all over the
place, and the plane was slowing down. As we descended into Reno, ice
was slushing off the plane. After we landed, big sheets were plopping
off. Looking back, we were lucky it was warmer in Reno.

Avoiding ice is best, but luck is good to have on your side if you don't
avoid it.


Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
I'm amazed at how much ice a Skylane will carry and still fly. I was at
full throttle (with the carb heat on as the intake iced over almost
instantly), flying at the top of the white arc and descending at 200
FPM, but the old girl flew fine and carried the ice for nearly an hour
until I descended into the warmer air on the approach.

This is one of those areas where slower seems to be better. Those big,
thick, old-fashioned airfoils you find on Cessnas lose less performance for
each unit of ice versus the laminar-flow jobs. I read in one magazine that
Cirrus says you can expect to lose 10kts the minute you get even a trace of
ice. Combine this with the Skylane's decent power and useful load and you
have a regular popsicle stick.

-cwk.

"Colin W Kingsbury" wrote in message
k.net...

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
I'm amazed at how much ice a Skylane will carry and still fly. I was
at
full throttle (with the carb heat on as the intake iced over almost
instantly), flying at the top of the white arc and descending at 200
FPM, but the old girl flew fine and carried the ice for nearly an hour
until I descended into the warmer air on the approach.

This is one of those areas where slower seems to be better. Those big,
thick, old-fashioned airfoils you find on Cessnas lose less performance
for
each unit of ice versus the laminar-flow jobs. I read in one magazine that
Cirrus says you can expect to lose 10kts the minute you get even a trace
of
ice. Combine this with the Skylane's decent power and useful load and you
have a regular popsicle stick.

Much the same with a Bonanza. Picked up 1/2 to an about an inch once and
other than it getting nose heavy, it hardly flinched.


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

Colin W Kingsbury wrote:
"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...

I'm amazed at how much ice a Skylane will carry and still fly. I was at
full throttle (with the carb heat on as the intake iced over almost
instantly), flying at the top of the white arc and descending at 200
FPM, but the old girl flew fine and carried the ice for nearly an hour
until I descended into the warmer air on the approach.


This is one of those areas where slower seems to be better. Those big,
thick, old-fashioned airfoils you find on Cessnas lose less performance for
each unit of ice versus the laminar-flow jobs. I read in one magazine that
Cirrus says you can expect to lose 10kts the minute you get even a trace of
ice. Combine this with the Skylane's decent power and useful load and you
have a regular popsicle stick.

-cwk.



Yes, that all helps. I don't recommend flying a Skylane into ice, but
it certainly isn't instant death as the OP suggested, even on the lee
side of lake Erie in December.

Matt