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This last week I did a flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Reno, Nevada. As usual with doing a flight like this, checking out the weather and anything else going on is key to safety.
Shortly after pulling up the weather, it was apparent that the day would be a bit iffy, and would take some precautions. The reason? Icing.
Icing is a very dangerous situation for really any aircraft, especially one that doesn’t have de-ice or anti-ice equipment like my aircraft. Building ice on the wings and empennage in back will change the shape and lift characteristics of a wing. If that wasn’t enough, it also adds weight.
Simply put, ice is a big no no.
The thing most pilots don’t realize about ice is that it is manageable from a prevention standpoint.
Here are some quick facts about ice.
- Icing can happen even when there weren’t reports
- Structural icing only occurs with visible moisture
- Icing is rare as it takes perfect conditions to make it happen
- Ice can be just a trace, light, moderate, and severe
- All aircraft, even those with equipment, are in danger in severe conditions
- Icing is something that takes experience to know how to manage
Looking at the list above, it’s first easy to see that if you don’t go flying, you don’t build ice. It’s that easy.
However, not flying because there is a spec of a chance of icing will basically keep you out of instrument conditions most of the time, especially around the mountains where I live.
I manage icing potencial in a couple ways. I’ll give you the step by step.
On the Ground
- Check the icing reports
- See where the icing levels are
- See if there’s a ‘clear’ cruise level that can be reached without prolonged exposure
- Not all reports are accurate, so check the PIREPS (pilot reports) and see what pilots are reporting
- Determine the potential by severity+exposure time
- Make the go-no go decision
While flying
- If Ice begins to build, monitor it closely
- Determine how quickly it is coming on, and what type it is
- Realize that the further into the icing I go, the further back out it is
If needing to get out of the ice, a few things can be done
- Turn around ASAP
- Descend below freezing level where ice cannot form
- Ask ATC for this lower routing, or simply ask for help
- Make reports for other pilots
- Do everything possible to get out, not build more, and burn the ice off
Although flight simulator is still in it’s infancy as far as icing conditions go, there are a few programs out there that emulate icing on the windows and wings, and some also emulate carburator icing (which is not structural).
It’s still fun to realize that if you are getting in these conditions, you’ve got to get out. Some aircraft like your heavy airliners are equipped to handle most anything, so you probably don’t have any issues there as long as you know when to turn the anti-ice on.
As far as other small aircraft you have the luxury of not worrying about icing in flight sim… for now. In the future, you may not be so lucky.
Until then, I will continue to battle these dangerous conditions while cruising around the Rocky Mountains in the winter months.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I echo your sentiments about using procedure even if the flight simulator you are using doesn’t model icing realistically enough to make it a problem. Every time I see someone saying “it seems detailed but you can still press Ctrl+E to start the engines so it’s not” I cringe. Just because the option is there doesn’t mean you have to use it. If anything it’s nice that they included it for simmers who don’t understand the process and don’t want to learn.
As far as icing in FS2004 and FSX goes, there have been mixed sentiments. Many think that the way it is modeled, it’s not even worth thinking about. However, I have seen otherwise in two different tests in FSX. In the first, I took off in the included Learjet from DCA during that terrible storm using real-world weather. I set the autopilot to maintain 8.000 feet and the autothrottle to maintain 250 knots (with anti-ice off). After a while, the EICAS gave me an icing warning, the airspeed indicator dropped to 0 knots, and the autothrottle commanded full thrust. In the second test, I flew the Maule Orion in Alaska for a while, again with anti-ice off. It got to the point where there wasn’t very much lift, and I had to decrease altitude several times (from 10,000 feet). In the end, the engine actually quit on me. I was a bit surprised that icing is modeled to this extent. The only problem with this is that FS doesn’t show structural icing. I did however find a gauge that might help, located at http://www.fs2000.org/index.php/downloads/doc_details/9918–fs2004fsx-the-ice-gauge. I’ll have to see how well it works.
Thanks for the info, Jon! There seems to be a lot of invisible stuff going on behind the scenes. Would be best if there were visuals to go along with the background modeling.
One aircraft add-on I’ve flown shows structural icing, or at least windscreen icing, and that’s the Aerosoft Bushhawk XP. There are probably others. In fact one of Bill Lyons’s FS9 planes (his Grumman Goose, maybe?) had this feature as well. I’m not sure how realistic it was, but it was nice at least getting the feedback.
I’ve seen plenty of pitot tube icing in FS9 and FSX, but I’m not sure if or to what extent structural icing is modeled from a flight physics standpoint. That’s something to test, for sure.
Thanks for another thought-provoking post!
I’ve had pitot tube icing before as well, but the visual indications are what gets me. I’d love to be able to see the ice building on, in the different types and severity.
Man, if ice was really invisible in real life, that would be REALLY scary!
Great article, as usual Chris. Icing is one of the aspects of winter flying that I really wish FS did a better job with. The low ceilings and precip can be modeled fairly well now thanks to ActiveSky, etc., but actually having to worry about icing while flying in FS is often an afterthought — and it shouldn’t be! (I’ll have to try the guage that Job posted above, looks interesting).
I think we’ll get there. It’s just a matter of time.