rajflyboy said:
Saying that someone is a cowboy because they picked up some ice in a C172 is not fair....
I'll only write for myself here.
I agree with everything else you said except this sentence.
I think that someone
knowinglyand
continuously flying a 172 (182/something similar) into icing conditions
without having a K-ice bird, should not be flying.
Hell, I've picked up ice in a 172. It was a warm day too...it just happened to get real cold real quick at 5000 that day. Not something that was forecast, PIREPed or anything, but it definitely was there. I wish I had written down the exact numbers (temps) at 4 and 5 because it was quite a difference. Once we started the descent to 4,000 (we were holding for an approach) the ice started melting off rather quickly. In fact, by the time we got to 4,000 you couldn't even tell there was any ice on the airplane.
Lesson learned! I won't be flying anything like that into
known icing conditions...especially on a continuing basis.
I tried to talk some people into staying on the ground today, but they didn't. At 6000 - 250/24 +3 - they said it wasn't freezing, so it wasn't known ice...I watched them takeoff and return 10 minutes later on the LOC approach.
I don't understand what the problem is. If your bird isn't K-ice, why do you want/need to fly it into known icing conditions? If you have to get somewhere that badly: 1. Airline or 2. Buy a certified airplane and get the training!
One of the Air Force guys (Trainer on basically any 707 variation) was talking about ice yesterday. We were discussing icing a static port over in flight. His comment, "if you ice up a static port on a 172, not only do you have bigger problems with the airplane, but with your head too".
He's right!
Anyway, that's my story. I'm not saying that you're in need of a head check if you go up on a day when it's 50-60 at the surface and you hit ice at 6-7k. I'm saying you're in need of some help if you
know or
suspect that cloud above (below) you has potential to throw ice on your (unequipped) plane and you go into it anyway.
Rant over.
-mini