Icing and the Big Apple (#13 Maine, #12 Massachusetts, #11 Rhode Island, #10 Connecticut)

Monday had pretty perfect weather and we decided to fly home.  The Lows were now North of us so while we had mostly clear skies, we had a strong flow heading up from Florida which meant headwinds.  We had a lot planned for our return home today and ended up packing in a bit extra. 

We departed Laconia, NH on time, we had one last look at the lake, now with the colder air covered in a light mist.  The departure was clear but some of the mountains had clouds clinging to the sides.  A good reminder to plan departures carefully. Our first stop was Sanford Sea Coast Regional in Maine. We had done the sightseeing the day before, now it was time to claim the landing.  It was an easy in and out and we soon were heading South towards Boston.  

I usually go IFR on these long cross countries but today we would be making several stops and with the good weather, I used flight following instead.  Heading towards Boston, I was not sure if they would let us through the class B airspace.  I could climb to 8500 but that would make descending for New Bedford, really steep.  Luckily it was a slow day and I heard the magic word, “cleared into the Bravo airspace”.

This let us cruise a bit lower and have a great view of Boston.  It also facilitated our descent into New Bedford Mass.  This clicked another state off the list.  We landed, taxied back and were in the air in just a few minutes.  I have been to Mass many times and we decided to forgo any direct sightseeing this trip.

The next stop was just 21 miles away in Rhode Island.  I had studied the state quite a bit and could never find anything to visit so this again was a technical stop.  After landing at Quonset State Airport, we soon launched for Danbury Connecticut.    This leg was a quick 94 miles.  Danbury was really just a fuel stop as CC and I have both toured Connecticut before.

I do a good bit of planning for these trips and especially the airports.  One thing I missed was the arrival into Danburry.  The approach to runway 26 is over a steep hill with trees.  They have a tall tower with a flashing red light to remind you not to hit the trees.  The Baron has the ability to descend rapidly so this did not create a real challenge but I was not expecting it.  We did a quick turn, added some gas and hit the facilities.  Our next leg would be rather busy.  From the ground, pictures do not make the hill does not look that imposing, it is and much more so from the air.

Departing Danburry we headed for the Hudson river.  There is a VFR corridor that allows you to fly down the river and sightsee New York.  You need to take a class online before doing this so you know the procedures.  Basically you fly between 1000 and 1300 on the West Bank (going South).  You have to stay below 140 Knots.  I chose 130-135 to provide positive control and to stay within the parameters.  

As you fly the river, you really need to pay attention, lots of traffic.  There are 6 mandatory reporting points and the trick is to be precise and quick.  This way you can hear where everyone is and what's going on.  In my case I say “Baron [Reporting point Name] 1100 Southbound”.  CC did most of the pictures though I clicked blindly with my phone a few times as I was focused on the flying.

The second to last point is the Statue of Liberty.  We had a great view and CC snapped all these pictures.  South of the Verrazano Bridge you are back to regular rules but still under the New York Airspace.  I had filed an IFR plan that started at an intersection called DIXIE, which is just North of Lakehurst NJ.  

Many people believe IFR plans must originate at an airport but they don’t.  You can use any fix in the system and I did.  I called the local controllers which you can find by looking up the nearest airports and seeing the frequency.  McGuire Approach had my clearance and I was soon cleared down to North Carolina.  

I had filed V1 which runs down the coast from DIXIE  to Norfolk and then direct Rocky Mount Airport.  It does seem odd that DIXIE is located in New Jersey but we went with it. Right after getting our clearance the skies went from clear to partly cloudy.  We initially were at 6000 but I had gone up to 8000 for better economy.  We had been fighting 15-20 knot headwinds since Maine so was trying to optimize as much as possible.

We were in and out of the puffy clouds and though the thermometer said 32 degrees, they were just wet.  As we progressed further the puffy clouds became a layer and then the temperature dropped to 31 degrees.  I was alert for Ice and had the pitot heat on.  I started to see traces on the windshield and immediately turned on window heat and the prop heaters.

At first there was nothing on the wings but as I watched, I started to see rime ice accumulating very slowly.  Even though the plane is made for flight into known icing conditions, I was not sticking around.  I told the controller we had ice and needed 6000.  We got it quickly and headed down.  As we got to 7000 we broke out and at 6000 the temperature was just above freezing.

I had resisted cycling the boots because the book says you need to wait till you have ½ to 1 inch of ice before cycling.  This keeps you from prematurely breaking the ice and leaving gaps.  I had maybe a quarter inch but since it was starting to sublimate on its own and the temperatures below were much warmer, I cycled them.  I have exercised them at least monthly since owning the plane.  This was the first time I saw them shed ice.

It just popped off, it was very cool.  It got about 90%, I would have waited longer if I was still in icing but I wanted to see them in action before it all sublimated.  The rest of the ice slowly disappeared.  There was a bit around the inlet scoops that took longer to go than the rest but it was soon all gone.  My first icing encounter had a good outcome.  I never would have ventured there in the Bonanza.  In the Baron I was ready for it and had an escape plan.  When I reported it, the controller had all sorts of questions and I have to say I delayed answering him a bit as I prioritized getting out of the ice and then playing 20 questions.

The ice was not supposed to be there.  The clouds were not supposed to be there.  We picked up the ice as we flew South over the Delaware bay. My guess is that the warm air below and the water combined to make these clouds just a bit different.  It is a good lesson to always be on the lookout.  There were no other reports and the controller seemed to be as surprised as I was was.  Also as we started down the ice accumulation seemed like it was dropping off.  It may have been a very local phenomenon.  That said I was not sticking around to test it.  

The rest of the trip to our fuel stop was uneventful.  We dropped by Rocky Mount again because they are convenient and had a great price on gas.  After that it was just a bit over 2 hours home fighting those headwinds again.  In the end the headwinds cost me about 20 gallons of gas and almost an hour but it was a great trip and another learning experience.  We flew around 2200 miles over 13 flight hours for an average ground speed of 168 knots.  Not too bad given the constant wind in our face.