Caravan Ice?

[flyboyzii]

I've been flying the van for 5 long years now and will tell you what I do. Climb at 115 knots. What you get for climb rate is what you get. Don't mingle around in the ice and on the approach it is a no flap landing. I have never had much problem with it. As far as the FAA and Cessna getting together for "mods". They just cut the icing weight back to 8000 lbs on the "b" model and 7600 lbs gross on the "a" model. Good luck and that vibration you feel is just the prop NOT shedding anything!!!!

 

[GravityHater]

familiarize yourself with SKEW-T charts. It graphs temp. and dew point with altitude and will give you a good idea of where the tops will be.

EXAMPLE!! please.

 

[cforst513]

i have never flown in icing conditions, so i have a question: how quickly does the ice melt/fall off after you leave the visible moisture you're in by either climbing or descending? if you descend into warmer air, does it take a while or does it really just depend on the thickness and type of ice?

 

[Dickensheets]

I used to wax the boots during winter to make them real slippery. I forget the name of the stuff but I think it's in Sporty's catalog. I recall that it helped quite a bit.

Ryan

 

[flyboyzii]

As far as how long it takes to melt??? It depends on how much you have on and the outside ambient temperature.

My company is gracious enough to put 1 can of "ice X" in each of our aircraft just in case we feel the need to appy for extra protection. The mechanics apply this stuff once a month anyway but it seems to lose it's effectiveness after about two or three de-icings. The onlt thing with "ice X" is that it needs 24 hours to cure on the boots. But it IS expensive (about $180) last time I bought a can. It is the best stuff around though. Think of it as life insurance. We fly in the ice every day for about 4 months at a time. Just my .02

 

[Dickensheets]

Thinking back, some of the guys were using Rain - X and Armor all too. Lord only knows if this stuff is compatable with boot material. We were desperate young men. Check with your mech before applying anything to the aircraft.

Ryan

 

[T-REX]

EXAMPLE!! please.

no prob.

help page:
http://weather.unisys.com/upper_air/skew/details.html

See in the image the point where temp. and dew point lines diverge? That's the tops. This particular sounding was probably taken on a day with low clouds/overcast. It isn't the original purpose of the Skew-T but it works well for flight planning.

Here is a great site that shows the data and automatically computes altitudes w/ freezing levels from pressures.
http://www-frd.fsl.noaa.gov/mab/soundings/java/

Fly safe!

 

[FN FAL]

Also, you might want to figure out alternatives, like MOCA.

 

[minitour]

i have never flown in icing conditions, so i have a question: how quickly does the ice melt/fall off after you leave the visible moisture you're in by either climbing or descending? if you descend into warmer air, does it take a while or does it really just depend on the thickness and type of ice?

My experience was pretty tame once we got out of the freezing level.

I'd say once we dropped 500' it was melting off. Once I was on final 1400' lower than I was holding it was completely gone from the wing struts. I'm hoping (not that it matters now) that it was off of the horizontal/vertical stab in the back too...I'd assume it was.

It's going to depend though....that's the thing about ice. It's unpredictable.

-mini

 

[wingnutt]

all good advice, perhaps a condensed version...

first, get yourself into one of the cold weather seminars...GREAT info to be had there, and a chance to win a recurrent at FSI. this is also where they will teach you that the van is NOT meant to loiter in icing conditions. i forget the formula now, but in that class, he will teach you that the van (based on its blistering speed) was CERTIFIED to fly in sustained icing conditions for something like TWO minutes...no more.

next...prep the boots. ask the mechs what to use, but Ice-X is what we used, and every other day if you KNOW youre gonna be in it.

then...watching the wing strut will tell you whats going on in the back. tail stalls require the complete opposite reaction in order to survive, you have to pull BACK on the yoke.

finally...be mindful of icing speeds. trying to recall, but i believe 120 knots was when you start trading altitude for airspeed (i think its actually like 108, but we added 10 knots to it for safety). anything less than that, and you WILL become a smoking hole in the ground.

and of course...flight plan. more than once we cancelled a trip because the freezing level was from the ground to the mid teens, and we all know the van is certified higher, but you aint gonna make it if you have to climb thru ice to get there.

dont let all this scare ya off...the van is a great aircraft and you will remember these times fondly for the rest of your career

 

[TurboS7]

If I am picking up ice I just accelerate to 320KTS, works great. I don't hang around in ice and I have it all.(738)I also have 10000 hours banging around Alaska and the Midwest in piston airplanes from 182's to BE-18's. When you are in ice you have to get out of it. Playing with it even with warm air below is nothing to mess with. If you are in ice go fast, and keep going fast. If you have ice shoot the approach fast, land fast. Don't let ice build on the bottom of the wing, the weight of the ice alone will pull you right out of the sky. It is nothing to mess with in a piston or light turboprop airplane. When you transiton to jets things change, ice in the air is no big deal, the runway and stopping distance becomes the major concern and limiting factor.

 

[Hand Commander]

As far as prepping deice boots, I've used this stuff, www.jetstreamproducts.com/deice.htm. Its a two step process, but if you do it right, it works amazingly well (one of the few products I've ever used that backs up its claims). The boots come out super shiney and are ready to shed ice as good as a pneumatic rubber boot can, not that its any reason to stay in icing conditions any longer than necessary, especially in a caravan.

 

[FN FAL]

Playing with it even with warm air below is nothing to mess with.

Yea, it's always best to get your first dose of ice for the season on a dark nicht, when the hanger is rattling from the wind off of Lake Superior and there is a half mile visibilty from snow falling out of the 100 foot vv.