KCMI to KTYQ to KCMI - 1.2

This trip was a maintenance run to Indy Exec. I had a really small weather window to get it done. The day prior had been crappy and the forecast for the afternoon and next day was not good either. The goal was to get over and back before lunch so I wouldn't have to miss a whole day of work.

The temp at the time I fired up was in the mid 30's. Skies were clear over CMI, but METARs were indicating 1,700 ft. overcast at TYQ. This was in line with the area forecast which said the overcast layer wasn't supposed to be any thicker than a couple thousand feet. If there was any ice I wouldn't be in it long. And if the overcast layer looked any thicker (or wetter) when I got over Indy, it would be a quick 30 minutes back to CMI. I had an escape plan. If there's anything I've learned in my relatively adolescent flying career, anytime you fly in conditions where ice may be a possibility, make sure you have a way out.

It was only 7:30 or so as I taxied out but already things were hopping. Most of the Institute students were taking advantage of the same weather window I was to get some practice in. I had to wait out a few touch and goes before tower cleared me for takeoff. Once again I found myself pleasantly surprised by how eagerly Eight Delta Fox climbed to altitude. I really need to fly more in winter. It certainly makes me much happier with 200 hp than I usually am in mid-July.

It wasn't long after departure turned me on course that I began to encounter the thin overcast mentioned in the METARs. It began a little east of Danville and got progressively denser the further east I flew. Still, at just 5,000 ft, I was well above the tops so I wasn't too worried. Adding to my encouragement were the METARs I was seeing on XM weather that indicated the ceiling wasn't any lower than 1,700 and visibilities were still above 6 miles. As I came into the Indy area the cloud layer was fairly solid, but I was catching glimpses of ground now and then. Things looked good for a fairly easy ILS into TYQ. And sure enough, that's what Indy Approach told me to expect.

Since this was going to be my first ILS in actual conditions in quite a while, and I was flying solo, I opted to let George do the flying so I could concentrate on working with Approach. I was cleared to descend to 3000 which put me right into the top of the clouds. Zipping in and out of the cloud tops never gets old. It's the only time you really feel like you're doing 150 mph.

The closer I got to the final approach fix, the thicker the clouds got. There was still plenty of light inside so I didn't get too worried about a ton of ice accumulation. Prior to descending into the clouds I'd taken as many precautions as I could. I turned on the pitot heat, cranked the window defrost and pulled on the alternate air induction. Alt air induction is what you use if you think the normal induction is getting iced up. This usually manifests itself as a decrease in power or engine roughness. Roughness isn't as pucker inducing at altitude when you have a few thousand feet to sort things out. Engine roughness at just a couple thousand feet AGL, however, is a great way to get the adrenaline flowing. Hence I chose the preventative measure of using alt air before things deteriorated to that point.

As George rolled onto the localizer I was looking intently at the wings and windshield for indications of ice accumulation. The windshield was clear but I couldn't really tell if anything was happening to the wings or not. The white backdrop of the clouds against my white wings made it tough to detect any trace amounts. If I was going to be able to visually spot ice, I figured it would have to be pretty substantial before I could pick it out. To me, the wings looked clean and I wasn't noticing any handling problems or having to use any extra power. Right before I crossed the outer marker, Approach asked me to report the altitude I broke out. About 4 miles out I broke into the clear at 2,200.

I called Approach and reported the ceiling before canceling IFR and switching to advisory. After landing and shutting down, I hopped out and ran my hand along the leading edges of the wings and prop. There was about a 1/32 in thick layer of rime ice but nothing to write home about. Well, I am blogging about it I suppose.

As usual, Brian and the guys at Montgomery Aviation took great care of me and I was back in the air in about an hour or so. The flight home was pretty uneventful and the overcast that greeted me on arrival had become a scattered layer. About the only "trouble" was a slight headwind. But even with that I managed to get back home by noon.