Page 27 - Feb17TNT

In looking over the TAFs, nearly all of the airports anywhere near the midpoint of our route are forecasting ice, plus freezing mist or drizzle and low IFR conditions. For pilots who have flown a long time in the northern states, snow is not too bad, but water that can’t make up its mind if it is frozen or liquid, that’s not good at all.
The de-ice systems on a Lear’s polished leading edges get hot enough to fry an egg. So it is not so much excess ice accretion on the wing that we worry about as all the rest that goes with it. With a touch down speed on the order of 125 kts, we are concerned about stopping the airplane safely on the runway if surface conditions are icy. If surface conditions are icy, glare ice will be particularly bad.
Then there is the practical matter of what to do about the ice accumulated during the approach when it is still frozen to the airplane after the refueling quick- turn is completed and we are ready to leave. What happens if we get stuck and have to park the airplane for the night at that location? When winter conditions deteriorate, heated hangar availability becomes as rare as hen’s teeth and can be very expensive. But if the airplane spends the night outside, the next morning you may find a large non- aerodynamic ice cube that only has minimal resemblance to the shiny, sleek airplane you left out last night.
Of course, assuming the equipment is functioning, you can get the airplane de-iced. But the de-icing fluid is four times the price of fuel at $16.95/gallon and (reasonably so) the line guys always seem to be more concerned about removing ice than how much of the expensive de-icing fluid they are casually spraying all over the place. The process can easily use 30 to 50 gallons, which adds about $800 to the fuel stop expense. This potentially may prompt the bean-counters to ask why you chose to land there in the first place. All kinds of things to consider and we haven’t even left Georgia yet.
We aren’t the only crew members standing around in the Columbus FBO pilot briefing room, grousing about conditions to the west, looking at the weather reports on the computer screen, and thinking that if this was a personal
February 2017
flight, we would just bag it, or better yet fly the airplane south for a half-hour and spend the next several days on the warm beaches of the Florida Panhandle. but that is not to be.
Then, one of the pilots from a swept- wing Citation parked next to us on the ramp who is also westbound noted a potential solution. In looking at the weather on the computer screen, he points out that due to a peculiar scalloping on the systems eastern edge, North Platte Nebraska (KLBF) is being temporarily spared from the worst of the storm. It has an airborne hole in the ice with its opening facing toward us. They are calling for 1,500-foot overcast, visibility of seven miles, surface winds from the north at 10 to 15 kts with occasional blowing snow, but no forecast of freezing rain or mist for the next 2 to 3 hours. KLBF is just 914 miles away and has an ILS to runway 30. The FBO is Trego Dugan, which is the same company we used at Grand Island on the way out and has jet fuel priced at just $3.56/gallon. Perfect. We file right away, quickly load our passengers and beat the Citation off the ground by 3 or 4 minutes.
Itismylegtoflyandwesoonleavethe clear conditions behind us and enter the leading edge of the winter low pressure
weather system to our west. Six miles beneath us, semi-trucks on the interstate are losing traction and causing huge multi-vehicle pileups. For us, we are still IMC as we pass through the mid 30s with just some light-to-moderate chop, which is causing the airline crews nearby to look for a smoother ride. Going through FL390, we finally break out into a clear, very cold and sunny sky. We settle for FL430 where we find the temperature to be at ISA -6 and a ride as smooth as silk. For the next two hours, we eat thick ham sandwiches, sip rather good FBO coffee, and are all alone up there in the bright sunshine apart from a Gulfstream going the other way a couple thousand feet above. Somewhere behind, from time to time when our center frequencies match, we can hear our Citation buddies from KCSG coming along behind us.
About half-hour out from KLBF, we see on our iPads that the weather has deteriorated a bit more than was predicted with the freezing drizzle now back on the line. We decide there could be a lot of ice in the clouds under us, and decide to stay high as long as we can by entering a TOD (top of descent) into the Universal FMS much closer to the airport than we normally would. If there is ice, the faster you go, the better, and the
A pilot’s worst nightmare: an airframe loaded up with ice. The safest strategy is to make sure all de-ice systems are operating, then get airborne as soon as you can and climb above the icing levels as fast possible.
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