Light Icing

[Reddog]

How do they put it on the "Aviation Safety Letter":

 

"Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make them all yourself".

 

AOG there were so many problems with your flight that the mind boggles:

 

Min. altitudes, minimum vis, minimum ceilings, known icing, height velocity curve, degraded autorotation performance, asymetrical shedding ice, etc, etc.

 

It sounds like you should have spent that four hours in the pickup reviewing your AIP and your flight manual.

[skullcap]

DT2;

 

He brought up the subject and asked for opinions, looks like that's is was he got.

 

 

AOG

I have been the CP and had engineers phone and ask the same questions about some pilot out swinging bags in ice. Had(key word) one guy who seemed invincable to ice and after 3 times he was no longer employed. Have loaded up on ice at -34 in relatively clear conditions (15miles vis) and and shut it down. No mention of any pressure other than "numb bum". Your aircraft would not have been able to auto and had to use 25' line, man if you need to ask these questions then can only say you knew wrong/right what was the point of this, to get a touchy feely thing going and share your guilt?

 

Ice has killed people and WILL kill more. Did you have an engineer with you at staging or was there people in staging after you landed? What do you think a chunk of ice shedding off the blade(s) would do to someone's eye. As mentioned before there are sooo many things wrong with the occasion that I have a hard time believing it, or did you make it up to get some posts?

 

I have never had a customer worth their salt who pushed me in icing, but now I know there are actually pilots STILL willing to fly in known icing will give that seeminly dumbass pm a break cuz he is not lying to me about the "last" pilot who "had no problem" in icing. Thanks.

 

:down:

[shaggy]

that icing artical and summary of legalities is pretty interesting, and i think a good thing to keep in mind when having to explain to a customer why they are not going to get any production for the day.

[skullcap]

Yeah, not to mention the chance of being DEAD

[Bladestrike]

:down: Once you start breaking/bending rules, where do you stop? If you let your emotions set your standards...ei. get homeitus or customer pressure, doing things you know you shouldn't, you will get in trouble sooner than later. Set yourself some strict guidelines and stick to them, at the very least, stick to the rules set out in the flight manual and by Transport. What you get away with today will only enforce the feeling of invulnerability that will catch up to you. The weather and the job will throw enough curves to deal with, you don't need to be behind the eightball to start with.

 

Specifically icing, I've had more than my share of runs-in with it, plus twenty years flying in Canada you will, especially on the East Coast, but I have never intentionally flown in known conditions, and I've either turned around or landed when I did encounter it. The worse I've had is a nasty dent in the tailrotor from shedding ice...oh wait...I lost an engine once from ice shedding off the airframe into an intake and had to do a 40 knot run-on landing with a 40 knot tailwind because the vis was too low in unforecast snow showers to try turning around...and I avoid ice like the plague! I can't imagine going flying intentionally in the stuff!

[Charles W.]

A.O.G. :

 

After over fifty years of flying with more time in icing than I can remember in aircraft certified for known icing I have learned one thing ...there is never a gurantee that any icing will not suddenly turn from manageable to unmanageable.

 

Sometimes the build up will occur in only a couple of minutes.

 

Flight in known icing with a certified aircraft "MUST " be done with extreem care.

 

Flight in known icing with a uncertified aircraft should "NEVER" be done deliberately.

 

You remember that and you may live to be as old as me. :up:

 

Rev. Chas. W.

[twinstar_ca]

who had the pics at one time of ice on the engine inlets of the super puma, i think it was.... very, very scary image...

 

i can only imagine the vibration if you threw even a little ice off the blades while flying... everyone, but everyone should avoid icing where ever possible!!

[longliner]

A O G

 

Great Post!!

Many years ago thumping along near Geraldton in "light"

icing happy to be enroute home beating the wx. Within 30 secs the light icing had turned to very heavy icing By the time I got turned I couldn't see anything out the front Fortunately there was a gravel pit on my right side as I rolled out of the turn however by the time I got into it I could not see out the right window Landed with the chin bubble only sheer luck Closest I've come to buying the farm ! Now the only ice I'll put up with is in my drink!

 

 

Fly Safe

Live Long

[412driver]

CARS 605.30(a)

 

No person shall commence a flight when icing conditions are known to exist or expected to be encountered during the flight......ect. ect.

 

look it up.....

 

when ice forms on the blades, it starts at the root and moves outwards. basically destroying the autorotative zone of the blade. in a bell medium i read this as "if the engine quits, your blades will stop rotating!" something to think about......

 

i believe this is all covered in the Critical Surface Training that everyone gets annually, right?

[treetopflyer]

Cougar Helicopters - Super Puma