When Your Breath Crackles

I HAVE HUNDREDS of hours logged above the flat plains of the United States and remember days when I could ice up the roof of my car just by breathing on it. That happened for days on end in the early months of most years when I flew out of Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas. You have to be careful when your breath crackles. I flew several aircraft in those places but only two of them had an anti-icing system. Even so, you did not want to challenge the capabilities of your anti-icing system. Sometimes I flew into ice while descending. On one occasion, I landed with an ice ram horn extending forward nearly five feet from the rear HF antenna. That was remarkable and my landing was lucky. Aircraft are not designed to become ice sculptures while flying.

Pat O'Brien, a classmate who has flown more hours in light aircraft than I have flown in heavy transport, had an unlucky encounter with in-flight icing and he didn't walk away from the result. He was taking cargo for a US Postal Service contract between sorting office on a midnight run. He did not land normally. That's his aircraft in the photo and I'm keeping it in the gutter of my blog until he recovers from his critical injuries.

Tailwinds, Pat.

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Kevin Horn -- "Small Aircraft Crashes Near Alliance"

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