Winter Flying

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Subject: It was solid IFR when the engine quit…

Hey Gang,

So on Monday I promised you 2 things

- A video on Winter Flying
- and my engine failure story thanks to ole’ man winter.

Well as promised here’s both…

Back in 2006 I was training for my commercial
certificate in the New England area. Because of
scheduling problems our flight needed to be in the
evening which meant we wouldn’t get back until
dark.

What we both thought was going to be a routine
Instrument refresher flight turned out to be anything
but.

I saved the METAR from that day, a portion of it read

28016G21KT 1 1/2 SM +SN OVC003

Which better translates to “Jason it’s a blizzard, you’re
from Florida, please don’t go flying today”

However for one odd reason or another my instructor
of all people talked me into it.

From the moment our wheels left the ground in our little
172 that would be the last time we saw the earth for over an
hour.

We shot an ILS approach into Martha’s Vineyard…. Had to go missed
We shot another approach into Newport State… Had to go missed

At this point I was really worried if we’d make it to anywhere that had
weather above approach minimums.

We opted to head back to where we started… the New Bedford Airport

Our first approach was the ILS to runway 5 (keep in mind what the
winds were doing) It certainly wasn’t favored and circling to land wasn’t
an option.

Our first shot was no luck… Solid IFR and had to go missed.

We elected to hold for 15 minutes and try it again…

Let me also add at this point our little 172 had no autopilot
so this was some stressful flying I was ready to land!

Upon leaving the hold we setup once again for the same ILS approach.
600ft for 272ft I called out to help me remember my minimums. 500ft
for 272ft we were right on course.

Finally at just shy of 300 ft my instructor shouted “I see the lights”

Excited, anxious, and ready to land I made the most crucial mistake
of my flying career.

—> I pulled the power out first

…not only out but to near idle…

The engine sputtered and began to windmill…

My heart sank for what felt like minutes but was only a matter of a
few seconds when my instructor shouted “carb heat!” and like clockwork
the engine began to return to life.

From that day forward I promised to never forget carb heat and trust
me even on a 90 degree Florida day I still make my students use it.

I want you guys and gals to be such a success in aviation so I’ve
compiled six of my best tips to help keep you safe this winter season
and for many more to come.

You can view the video below
Once you get done watching the video leave me a comment and share
your experiences flying in winter weather.

Remember A Good Pilot Is Always Learning!

See Ya,

Jason

What is your experience with winter flying? I’d love to hear! Leave me a comment below… – Jason

Text Transcript

Hey everyone. Jason Schappert of MzeroA.com here. I’m out here, it’s 12 degrees at Niagara Falls. I wanted to take a moment even if it’s freezing across the country to take about winter flying. Let’s go ahead and get to the video.

So, how cool was that? Niagara Falls was part of the secret honeymoon I had planned for Ashley. We had an absolute blast up there, but it really brought to my attention how cold it is up north. We were actually up in Canada doing that. It was 12 degrees! It was absolutely freezing. So, I compiled six great tips for you guys to make your winter flying more enjoyable and more importantly, more safe.

So the first thing is, try to keep your aircraft hangared. If that is an option for you, I highly recommend it. Hopefully your flight school is doing it for you and hopefully US aircraft will be able to do it or do it now. It makes preflight, makes everything so much easier.

Now to add on to that, if your aircraft is tied down outside, don’t rush with preflight just because it’s freezing. I flew a year up in Massachusetts with tied down Cessna 152s and it was cold! Tendency was, you want to rush with that preflight because the snow was blowing, it was freezing. All you want to do is get in that airplane, keep that prop turning so that the cabin heat gets working. That is not the right thing to do. Take your time with these preflight inspections, having hangared aircraft makes it a lot easier.

Also, dress to survive! You don’t normally hear me talk about these kind of things. Don’t show up in your flip flops and a pair of jeans, going flying over the snow. If something were to happen, you’d be able to dress to survive. Now when we were in Massachusetts, we still wore ski coats and everything else like that but in a 152, I’m six foot four. A ski coat makes it a lot difficult to get in and an out of that airplane, let alone fly it with an instructor.

So what we did is we typically brought space blankets, keep it in the back and had a little survival kit so that’s something to think about as well.

Third thing is, be aware of engine fire on start procedures. When that engine’s cold, it’s not gonna start. You’re gonna have to prime it like crazy, you’d have to do all tricks in the book… that’s just gonna be feeding the fire for a fire. Engine fires on start are more common up north or on colder days. So, having those engine fire on start whether the engine starts or whether it doesn’t, the procedure’s down cold. No pun’s intended.

Allow time for the engine to warm. Slow it down on the taxi. Do the run-up a little bit longer. Give that engine temperature time to increase. Watch that oil temperature gauge. Make sure everything is working properly. You don’t want to be flying down the runway trying to force that engine when it’s freezing cold. Allow that engine to have time to warm.

Fifth thing is, apply carb heat before takeoff. It’s just happened one day, it was a cold foggy day in Florida. A student and I came up, we were departing IFR, we were getting ready to depart. I said, “Let’s apply carb heat.” Sure enough, when we applied the carb heat, we got a drop followed by a rise. Which means what? Which means we have carb ice. I think if we tried to take off on that circumstance, apply full power, and we’ve got ice blocking fuel to our carburetor to our engine while we’re departing IFR at low altitude… not cool at all.

So apply carb heat before takeoff and don’t forget to turn it back off. But you check it once in the runup and once you’re cleared for takeoff or right before you make the call to depart, go ahead and apply that carb heat one more time especially when you’ve been sitting awhile waiting for your departure.

And, lastly, have alternate airports in mind. Snow blows. If you’ve seen ice fog, it’s nasty. Runways freeze over. They can get clouded in time. Have alternate airports in mind. Don’t just stick with your home base airport. Know the frequencies, know the runway layouts of other airports nearby and how to get to them quickly.

I want to know what your experience have been this winter or previous winters. If you are on MzeroA.com, leave me a comment below. You will for sure get a reply from me. I can’t guarantee replies on Youtube or other websites, it’s just too much to check. But if you are at MzeroA.com, leave me a comment about your winter flying experience, I want to hear about it. If you’re not at MzeroA.com, go to m0a.com/winter-flying/,leave a comment below the video. You don’t have to register or something like that, just go ahead and type in your comment, you know you’re gonna get a reply from me.

Guys, thank you so much. Be safe this winter and, most importantly, remember, a good pilot is always learning. Have a great day guys! See ya!

Tagged as: Winter Flying