Sport Pilot Talk

Be careful out there. Not my picture. A friend was up a couple of weeks ago and almost didn't make it back.

Is that hail damage?

That's about 1/8 to 1/4 inch of ice.
There were icicles trailing off the training edge of every surface.

That looks like a pretty light airplane...don't you have to be in the clouds (or at least some mist) to pick up ice?

Freezing rain?

Aerotrek? Kitfox? One of the Cub clones??

MrMorden wrote:That looks like a pretty light airplane...don't you have to be in the clouds (or at least some mist) to pick up ice?

No.

That kind of clear ice is most often caused by rain falling from warmer air above onto a plane that's below freezing.

Needless to say it's extremely dangerous and that pilot is very lucky.

FastEddieB wrote:

MrMorden wrote:That looks like a pretty light airplane...don't you have to be in the clouds (or at least some mist) to pick up ice?

No.

That kind of clear ice is most often caused by rain falling from warmer air above onto a plane that's below freezing.

Needless to say it's extremely dangerous and that pilot is very lucky.

I forgot about rain, but my point was that there has to be visible moisture in the air to form the ice.

Glad the pilot landed safely. Must have been scary trying to see through that windshield.

Yes, visible moisture of some sort is necessary for airframe icing.

But one can imagine flying along underneath an overcast in clear air, at below-freezing temperatures, and a sudden downpour causing something like that.

That said, its never happened to me, and with proper planning and wx avoidance I think it would be generally avoidable.

Nomore767 wrote:Freezing rain?

Concur.
Looks like freezing rain from here.
Extremely dangerous.

MrMorden wrote:That looks like a pretty light airplane...don't you have to be in the clouds (or at least some mist) to pick up ice?

It's a 1941 (?) Piper J-3.
When they took off, it wasn't raining at ground level. At 2,500 ft they flew into some mist, and realized the water wasn't running off, so they turned back. Everyone was trying to get back on the ground, and they had to go around twice before they got their chance.
The place looked like an ice sculpture exhibition.

rgstubbsjr wrote:

MrMorden wrote:That looks like a pretty light airplane...don't you have to be in the clouds (or at least some mist) to pick up ice?

It's a 1941 (?) Piper J-3.
When they took off, it wasn't raining at ground level. At 2,500 ft they flew into some mist, and realized the water wasn't running off, so they turned back. Everyone was trying to get back on the ground, and they had to go around twice before they got their chance.
The place looked like an ice sculpture exhibition.

Wow, that is some really scary stuff. A testament to the old Cub's desire to keep flying!

MrMorden wrote:A testament to the old Cub's desire to keep flying!

You shouldn't anthropomorphize inatimate objects, Andy. They hate that.

Where was this (geographically)?

drseti wrote:

MrMorden wrote:A testament to the old Cub's desire to keep flying!

You shouldn't anthropomorphize inatimate objects, Andy. They hate that.