Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.")

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

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Aero-Tips 11.02.06

I was in the FBO at a local airport on the receiving end of an oral quiz to satisfy part of my Flight Review. A short, fit man came in from cold, clear skies. "Hi, doc," greeted another instructor, working the FBO desk. "How was your flight down last night?"

The pilot beamed. "We had ice all the way down to about 3000 feet, but I broke out of it on the approach. There was only about a quarter inch on the wings and tail when we landed." He laughed. "We made it home all right."

Bear in mind the field elevation put the final approach fix for the instrument approach above what the pilot reported as the base of the ice-accumulating clouds.

The instructor replied: "Yeah, you don't really need to worry about it until you get a half of inch or more."

Turning point

An airborne icing encounter can go one of two ways:

1. The pilot uses this as a learning experience to discover when and where ice might form, relate that to forecasts received before flight and updates en route, and how terribly unpredictable the presence and intensity of airframe ice can be; or
2. The pilot says "we made it home all right", reinforcing a bad decision and becoming unconsciously more comfortable with flight in hazardous conditions, even more likely to enter those conditions again.

Reinforcement

Reinforcing the pilot's growing acceptance of unacceptable risk, the CFI behind the desk said the one thing that will make the pilot even more likely to repeat bad risk management: "you're right." He told the pilot that one-quarter of inch of ice on the wings and tail-guaranteed to adversely and wildly affect aerodynamics-was absolutely nothing to worry about. He didn't comment about beginning an approach into known icing conditions with absolutely no way out into ice-free air. In short, he told the pilot that his was the proper decision. Even more reinforcing, the pilot was flying a new technology, composite airplane, and the instructor is certified by the aircraft manufacturer as an instructor in the type. Airplanes that are more dependent on slick aerodynamics for performance are even more degraded when they encounter ice; the "you did the right thing" message was given by someone that, in the eyes of the pilot, was speaking with the full authority and backing of the aircraft manufacturer.

Missed opportunity

I turned back to my CFI and we continued the discussion. I kick myself now for not doing two things:

1. Excusing myself from my CFI long enough to talk to the pilot (and the "factory" instructor) about their careless attitude about ice.
2. Steering the conversation with my CFI to the topic of ice-related risk management. The CFI administering my review was only two weeks on the job at the time; I missed an opportunity to begin a mentoring relationship (I've since gone back and corrected this omission).

Aero-tip of the day: Even more than in the past, what we do as pilots (and instructors) reflects on the personal aviation industry as a whole. Take risk management seriously, and use each flight experience as a turning point toward (and not away from) safety for you and your passengers.

FMI: Aero-Tips