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High Altitude Flight

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PilotjohnS

Well Known Member
On the way to and from Sedona this weekend, I ran into something very interesting.
I was at 13500' and 14500' MSL. I notice nice fluffy clouds outside at my altitude. Nothing major, just some cumulus-like clouds. They were translucent, so I could kind of see through them. I was about to let the Otto (autopilot) fly through them. Here is what the panel was saying:

IMG_6083.jpeg




Then I noticed the outside air temperature. Then it hit me ICING. Not a good idea to fly through visible moisture that is below freezing. So i turned the pitot heat on, and switch to heading mode and did a 5 degree diversion for a few miles.

Be Careful Out There
 
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Wise observation!

But also: Is that your carbon monoxide warning light turned on?

- mark
 
PilotjohnS said:
On the way too and from Sedona this weekend, I ran into something very interesting.
I was at 13500' and 14500' MSL. I notice nice fluffy clouds outside at my altitude. Nothing major, just some cumulus-like clouds. They were translucent, so I could kind of see through them. I was about to let the Otto (autopilot) fly through them. Here is what the panel was saying:

View attachment 58236



Then I noticed the outside air temperature. Then it hit me ICING. Not a good idea to fly through visible moisture that is below freezing. So i turned the pitot heat on, and switch to heading mode and did a 5 degree diversion for a few miles.

Be Careful Out There
Click to expand...
Good catch!

I like your "alphabet dial" top center! I've never seen that before. How many times I've had to go back and list to ATIS again to recall the info alpha.
 
PilotjohnS said:
On the way too and from Sedona this weekend, I ran into something very interesting.
I was at 13500' and 14500' MSL. I notice nice fluffy clouds outside at my altitude. Nothing major, just some cumulus-like clouds. They were translucent, so I could kind of see through them. I was about to let the Otto (autopilot) fly through them. Here is what the panel was saying:
Click to expand...

Avoiding an encounter with ice was a good reason to avoid flying through the clouds - great choice!

Since this is the safety forum, I kind of feel compelled to point out that an even better reason to avoid flying through the clouds that you could only "kind of see through" is you were not on an IFR flight plan and lacked an IFR clearance...
 
ChiefPilot said:
Since this is the safety forum, I kind of feel compelled to point out that an even better reason to avoid flying through the clouds that you could only "kind of see through" is you were not on an IFR flight plan and lacked an IFR clearance...
Click to expand...
Yep. Many years ago I had the good fortune to work at a national Lab that allowed employees to fly their personal aircraft on business trips. Unfortunately one pilot, flying under VFR, made the opposite choice from you - he went thru some cumulus. Inside the cloud he met an air force KC135 on an ifr approach. A dozen dead, millions of dollars in aircraft lost. All the employees lost the right to fly their planes on business trips.
 
May want to cover up part of the front side of the oil cooler to get the temp up. Lycoming says minimum oil temp for continuous operation should not be below 140°F.

Screenshot 2024-03-12 at 8.30.54 PM.jpg
 
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RV8JD said:
May want to cover up part of the front side of the oil cooler to get the temp up. Lycoming says minimum oil temp for continuous operation should not be below 140°F.

View attachment 58250
Click to expand...
Good catch. I am running 20-50w oil, not sure if that matters. I think I will add a yellow band on the low temp side then. The white band is to avoid too high of pressure during takeoff when the oil temp is too cold.
 
I was flying at FL450 in a G650 the other day and as we went by Minden, I saw an ADS-B target that looked unusual. It appeared to be rotating in place. I googled the N-number. Turns out it was a jet-powered self-launching glider, and it appeared to be ABOVE us. Anyway, I wondered the same thing: how does he deal with clouds on the way up (or down?). Seems icing would be a serious hazard, albeit not at that altitude.

--Ron
 
Icing Hazards

National Weather Service (.gov)
https://www.weather.gov › source › zhu › icing_stuff
The likelihood of structural icing is greatest in the temperature range from 0°C to -10°C. The likelihood decreases, but is still possible between -10°C to -20° .

Those are quite thin Stratocumulus. At 14* F below freezing, I'd be suprised to pick up any ice at RV speeds. Never the less, I commend your decision. The icing posibility, the VFR flight rules disregard, and the possibility that there might be a large mass of aluminum in one of those clouds are factors to consider.
 
PilotjohnS said:
On the way too and from Sedona this weekend, I ran into something very interesting.
I was at 13500' and 14500' MSL. I notice nice fluffy clouds outside at my altitude. Nothing major, just some cumulus-like clouds. They were translucent, so I could kind of see through them. I was about to let the Otto (autopilot) fly through them. Here is what the panel was saying:

View attachment 58236



Then I noticed the outside air temperature. Then it hit me ICING. Not a good idea to fly through visible moisture that is below freezing. So i turned the pitot heat on, and switch to heading mode and did a 5 degree diversion for a few miles.

Be Careful Out There
Click to expand...
Translucent clouds? Not that I’m condoning breaking cloud clearance requirements while not on an IFR flight plan, but to pick up icing, you need three things; at or below freeing temps, visible moisture, and a “lifting” action. Just flying in a cloud that’s at or below freezing doesn’t mean you’ll pick up ice. The lifting action is why typically the worst of the icing occurs near the tops. Growing cumulus clouds are what make the most ice. Small puffies standing out there by themselves? Naaaa no ice!!
 
ronrapp said:
I was flying at FL450 in a G650 the other day and as we went by Minden, I saw an ADS-B target that looked unusual. It appeared to be rotating in place. I googled the N-number. Turns out it was a jet-powered self-launching glider, and it appeared to be ABOVE us. Anyway, I wondered the same thing: how does he deal with clouds on the way up (or down?). Seems icing would be a serious hazard, albeit not at that altitude.

--Ron
Click to expand...
Above FL450, that would have been a cool flight track to look at on flightaware.
 
ronrapp said:
I was flying at FL450 in a G650 the other day and as we went by Minden, I saw an ADS-B target that looked unusual. It appeared to be rotating in place. I googled the N-number. Turns out it was a jet-powered self-launching glider, and it appeared to be ABOVE us. Anyway, I wondered the same thing: how does he deal with clouds on the way up (or down?). Seems icing would be a serious hazard, albeit not at that altitude.

--Ron
Click to expand...
I wonder what kind of heater a glider would have to fly at that altitude! 😳
 
PilotjohnS said:
Good catch. I am running 20-50w oil, not sure if that matters. I think I will add a yellow band on the low temp side then. The white band is to avoid too high of pressure during takeoff when the oil temp is too cold.
Click to expand...
Or use the adaptive guage settings that G3X provides. For temp; 1 set of limits on ground, another in the air.
Appears you're not taking advantage of the various alarm opportunities that are easily programmed.
 
ronrapp said:
I was flying at FL450 in a G650 the other day and as we went by Minden, I saw an ADS-B target that looked unusual. It appeared to be rotating in place. I googled the N-number. Turns out it was a jet-powered self-launching glider, and it appeared to be ABOVE us. Anyway, I wondered the same thing: how does he deal with clouds on the way up (or down?). Seems icing would be a serious hazard, albeit not at that altitude.

--Ron
Click to expand...


Probably Gordon Boettger
https://www.cloudbasemayhem.com/205-chasing-the-monster-with-gordon-boettger/

1710355836592.png
 
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