Let's talk about the almost crapping your pants moments

[ADAM_713]

If you have flown any bit of time you usually got them.  Lets hear about some of those moments you wished you wouldn't have pushed the envelope, got yourself caught in a sticky situation, or had the stuff hit the fan.


I took off from Texarkana back to Adams and had some storms blow in while in route.  Had to divert into PBF when my shooting the gap didn't work and ended up flying into the front of a thunderstorm while doing a teardrop approach.    I thought it was better to get the plane on the ground as opposed to going around and hitting the storm, which led to me hitting the front part of the storm before it came over the airport.  This was all in  DA-20, and I had my younger brother up for the first time.  I forget how hard the tailwinds where, but it felt like the plane was about to be pushed tail over nose.  My brother thought it was great, I was scared shitless.  Ended up greasing one down, and making it back to KLIT in sunny skies a few hours later.  My instructor had left me 5 voicemails asking if I had made it in being that I probably had 50 or so total hours.

[ADAM_713]

On my first cross country with my instructor I was flying up to FSM from KLIT.   My instructor had never told me about MOAs, but I learned about them very quickly when an F-16 did a steep dive about 1000ft off of my 9 then pulled a hard turn coming right back off the other wing streaking through the sky.  He was going fast enough that my entire plane was shaking from the afterburner when he went by.  Needless to say it scared the stuff out of me. We quickly got on with MEM and flight following and learned that the MOA was hot.  I think the f-16 was giving me a polite warning and the point came across.  We did get to watch them dog fight the rest of the day while flying through which was one of the coolest things I have seen to date.

[ADAM_713]

Didn't happen to me, but a guy I knew flying out Central was messing around in a Kitana around the farm fields south of central.  Took the plane inverted a couple thousand feet and it stalled out/engine died.  Ended up landing it in a field, checked everything out, pushed back on to a dirt road and brought it back to Central without anyone ever know the difference.  Dangerous as hell, but I guess it is a good story for him looking back on it.

[gotyacovered]

Didn't happen to me, but a guy I knew flying out Central was messing around in a Kitana around the farm fields south of central.  Took the plane inverted a couple thousand feet and it stalled out/engine died.  Ended up landing it in a field, checked everything out, pushed back on to a dirt road and brought it back to Central without anyone ever know the difference.  Dangerous as hell, but I guess it is a good story for him looking back on it.

if nothing else, sounds like the dude can fly.

[bvillepig]

I have two and I learned a tremendous amount from both of them. Here is the kicker.  I consider myself a very conservative pilot !

I was in Dothan Al doing my instrument training in a 10 day school to finish. I was going to do my check ride the next day. The day before we had done some long cross countries . I had chosen Gulf Shores, Destin and Auburn and back to Dothan. Beautiful day, absolutely gorgeous.

That afternoon during the briefing we made plans to take my checkride. I was ready but the only thing that might get in the way was a little lady named Katrina

Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast with projections of making landfall anywhere from Gulf Shores to Lake Charles. It looked like it was going to make landfall more toward Lake Charles so we decided to fly some approaches out and into Dothan.

Conditions were perfect newbie IFR training . 1400 broken, tops 3000 or so and light scattered showers.

Flew 2 hours and landed . My CFI and I went into the briefing room to look at Radar.  Katrina had made a turn and was going to make landfall farther west.  The outer bands were getting pretty close to Dothan and the wind was starting to pick up.  It was evident there would not be a checkride for quite a few days so I decided to fly back to northeast Arkansas .

A buddy of mine who had a 182 with full glass panel was also doing his IFR
there also so he took off first.  I had to get fuel so had a delay.  That 30 minute difference was huge.

The tower cleared me for a midfield takeoff to beat the approaching squall line.   I had about a 35 knot headwind right down the runway. As i took off I was flying at a solid wall of water. Turning downwind I looked to my left and the tower was engulfed by this wall of water.   I was also not IFR rated yet so my choice was to find a hole and climb on top.  10 minutes later I was cruising along with a huge tailwind and watching build ups in front of me.

I contacted my 182 buddy air to air as he had XM weather on his G1000 and he navigated me around everything.

Number two was   " "ICE""    LOTS    of ICE !!  in March 2010 going into Rogers for my sons and grandaughters birthday.
Later

[theFlyingHog]

Took off from LIT after work one night for EVV with a friend flying and me on radios. Got close to Walnut Ridge and HIWAS started talking about embedded TS's in our area so I got the chart out to pinpoint them. We flew into some cumulus at 5000' and got bumped around a little and my friend almost lost control. Looking at the Garmin at one point I noticed we were 140* off heading and by the engine sound I could tell he was having a lot of trouble finding level flight. We ended up beneath the clouds and I called MEM center and told them we're landing Walnut Ridge right the heck now.

But the worst for me was flying by myself on my first night IMC. GPT-LIT with small scattered storms from GPT to JAN, in 739NP for you LIT guys.

[Sooiepride]

I had 26 hours PIC when I flew up to the Missouri border from a small grass strip just outside of Little Rock to pick up a duck hunting dog.  My wife and I drove to the grass strip to pick up the 172 I normally flew and it had already been rented, so it was gone.  The owner told me that he had a 150 over at an airport about 10 miles away in the next town that he would rent to me for cheap (like $40 buck an hour wet!), so I jumped on it.  The 150 he rented me had the old lever pull starter (which I had never seen before), so needless to say, it was an old plane with a new paint job.  This plane was one that the owner had bought as a wreck, fixed it up, and had it for sale.  No telling how long it had been sitting in that hangar.  Anyway, I tried to start the plane and the battery was completely dead.  SOOOOO, after talking with the owner of the plane, I pulled the jumper cables out of my wife's car and jumped the battery (I'm really ashamed to admit this - wouldn't do it today for sure).  Anyway, jumped the plane, took off, got about 75% of the way there and the Generator inop light lit up!  Since we were almost there, I went ahead and kept going.  Thank the Lord for the mags. 

Well, about 10 miles from our destination, the battery was drained.  I couldn't power the strobe and the radio at the same time.  So, I turned off the radio, kept my eyes peeled for other traffic, and landed at our destination.  He's where it got bad.  Once the guy with my dog finally got to the airport, it was getting close to dark.  I'm sitting there thinking, "If I can't even operate the radio and the strobe simultaneously, how the heck and I going to turn on the runway lights when I get back to the airport tonight??"  So, I had the dog breeder drive us to this podunk motel and we spent the night. 

Next morning I asked the owner of the hotel to drive us to the airport which he did, I then asked him to drive his car up under my wing to jump the plane's battery, which he did.  I jumped the plane and flew it back to the how airport....you should've seen how big the motel owner's eyes got when I asked him to jump my plane. 

Before you chastise me, let me say that I was an idiot.  1) I should have never jumped the battery before we took off in the first place and 2) i should have never jumped the battery the next morning on the return leg knowing that the generator was inop.  Looking back, I was lucky, and I learned several lessons on this trip...

[Bookmama]

Hmm... my husband has a friend who has been talking to him about getting a pilot's license.  The friend has a shared ownership in a plane.  Somehow such a deal sounds really unappealing to me after reading these posts.  I know there is risk to everything, but still.....

Anyone else have a significant other who is less-than-thrilled with your flights?

[gotyacovered]

I was told that flying is hours of flying broken up by a few moments of sheer terror. Same is true with driving, just like anything, there are risks, flying... while an accident is much, much less likely come with severe consequences. In short, I am way more likely to have a fatal car accident, than a fatal accident in the air. I also believe whether it's in the air, land or sea, we each have our time, nothing we can do will change it.

As a side note, I have been flying since I could walk, my entire family flys, my dad, 2 uncles, and 2 cousins account for around 40,000 hours, while each of them have these stories, they are all still flying. I am 33 and have 40 hours, and am a student pilot. From that perspective, its all about training, IMO.

[theFlyingHog]

There are a number of ways to bust your rear. And there is a counter to every one of them. I got into my situations because of a lack of experience. I have 270 hours and every one of them taught me something new. Each flight pushes me in some way.

It's my opinion that if a newer pilot respects the process and his limitations, that will cut out a lot of dangers to new pilots. And seasoned ones too. I think it was Chuck Yeager said "you want to fill up the bag of skill before you empty the bag of luck"

[bvillepig]

Hmm... my husband has a friend who has been talking to him about getting a pilot's license.  The friend has a shared ownership in a plane.  Somehow such a deal sounds really unappealing to me after reading these posts.  I know there is risk to everything, but still.....

Anyone else have a significant other who is less-than-thrilled with your flights?

My wife was a little timid in the beginning but she is a trooper now.

I have been an advanced open water diver for way longer than a pilot and I can not get her even close to scuba diving.

On another note today was quite a ride.

[Bookmama]

Well I think you all make good points.  Someone passed me today driving when there was absolutely not time for them to get around me, forcing me to hit the brakes and leaving me with my heart pounding.  And no, I'm not a slowpoke who deserved to get passed! 

[gotyacovered]

Chuck Yeager said "you want to fill up the bag of skill before you empty the bag of luck"

i love this...

[gotyacovered]

On another note today was quite a ride.

where were you? anyitme in the last few days was probably a ride.

[bvillepig]

where were you? anytime in the last few days was probably a ride.

Sunday going into BYH the winds were  220 26 gusting to 42. From 4500 to the surface it was rough.  I let some friends out and then came back to northwest arkansas to keep my grand daughters for a few days .

The last two weekends have been the most turbulent conditions that I have flown in since I started in 2004. 

[gotyacovered]

Sunday going into BYH the winds were  220 26 gusting to 42. From 4500 to the surface it was rough.  I let some friends out and then came back to northwest arkansas to keep my grand daughters for a few days .

The last two weekends have been the most turbulent conditions that I have flown in since I started in 2004. 

probably good my prop is getting worked on, would have been able to fly last week cause i was gone, and the wind the last few days has been gettin' it.

your granddaughters fly with you?

[bvillepig]

Yes they have flown with us since their mother and father moved to Bentonville around 4 years ago. I have an 8 year old and 6 year old. The 8 loves it the 6 not so much.

However we do pick our times to fly. My six year old gets motion sickness pretty easy so we fly alot early mornings or late afternoons.

We have had some great trips with the girls. Charleston,Destin, and Orlando. Of course Orlando was their favorite. We did not do Disney as we saved that for mom and dad but had a blast at Universal and Sea World.

Sounds like you grew up around aviation. Have you had any luck on getting your prop home?

[gotyacovered]

Yes they have flown with us since their mother and father moved to Bentonville around 4 years ago. I have an 8 year old and 6 year old. The 8 loves it the 6 not so much.

However we do pick our times to fly. My six year old gets motion sickness pretty easy so we fly alot early mornings or late afternoons.

We have had some great trips with the girls. Charleston,Destin, and Orlando. Of course Orlando was their favorite. We did not do Disney as we saved that for mom and dad but had a blast at Universal and Sea World.

Sounds like you grew up around aviation. Have you had any luck on getting your prop home?

Yes, I was very lucky as a kid. My dad had a mooney and a 310 that we traveled in ALOT. he farmed and crop dusted in western Kansas, we would go skiing in angel fire 5-6 times a year. I remeber landing on a road just a few miles from a family cabin and walking in the snow to get the car. The primary reason I am getting my license is to do the same for my kids.

No luck on the prop yet... The prop shop has a truck coming this way early next week, so worst case it'll be here then. My feet are itching to get off the ground!!! Injave been studying more so it's been kind of a positive thing!

[gotyacovered]

had a little one today.

already kind of touched on it in another thread, but...

i go out to the airport to pay a bill at lunch. when i get out there is a real nice 14-15 kt wind at 140*. it was real steady, little or no gusts. so i decide to get a little xwind practice on 22. i was on a streak of greasers, all perfect. by the book, crab in, straighten her out, left main first... everything by the book. on my 5-6th one, i touch down, and was gloating to myself on my wonderful craft... i take all the aileron out while i am cleaning up the airplane... and she wasnt quite done flying yet. apparently i touched down a little hot and quit flying.

my two scariest moments of flying have both been on roll out. lets hope there isnt a 3rd, maybe i learned my lesson this time.

[bvillepig]

My scariest was on rollout  before I got my private. I was with my instructor after a cross country and we were trying to get to the airport before  a local summer boomer made its way to the airport.  The buildup was around 20 miles out but moving toward the airport.

Everything was good as I touched down but suddenly the winds changed to a quartering tailwind and I was heading for the bean fields surrounding the airport runway. Instructor taps on the rudder and saves the day and my airplane .  He didn't realize how unnerved I was so when he asked when I wanted to get together again I said I'll call you I am going to be pretty busy in the next few days.

As I drove home I was really thinking about giving it up. After a few days Wally called to try to set up for the next lesson. I began to explain that I just didn't think I was cut out for this. Of course he said get to the airport and we will talk about it there. I did and we got back in the plane to work on just a few fun things he said. He begin to explain the situation and reassure me that I was being a little to tough on myself.  He gave me a heading toward another airport and said land there.

He had picked some little airport that had a 40 ft wide runway and was 2600 feet.  Need less to say after a small debate which he won I nailed it .

I was glad I continued on but I did have my doubts.

Gotya it sounds like you are doing a very good job with managing your time. Keep the experiences coming as I do think it does a lot of good to share these things. I know I really enjoy talking aviation.

[tweet pilot]

This story happened to a buddy of mine.  He was an instructor in a T-38 flying out of Moody AFB, GA.  He was flying with a senior student on a low level nav ride.  The night before had been a little rough.  After wheels up, he told the stud he would take a little nap, if anything happened wake him up. 

Well, what woke him up was Atlanta center calling on guard.  Of course it took him a while to figure out where the hell he was, took control of the plane, turned the radio off, and headed back to Moody in burner.  All the way back, he was working with the stud, getting their stories straight, fearing he had just ended his AF career.

Since he went radio silent, and was obviously not where he was supposed to be, they were scrambling planes all over the place trying to intercept him and find out what the problem was.  Because he was using burners, no one could close on him.  Got back to the base rocked his wing like he was radio out and landed. 

He blamed everything on letting the student go too far.  I'm sure everyone knew he was lying out his butt, but he was a cool guy so they didn't drop the hammer.  We've had

[tweet pilot]

Weather in south GA gets a little crappy.  My student was flying lead in a 2 ship formation when we got a fire light.  When he noticed it, he paniced a little and forgot to keep flying the plane.  He let the plane climb and started a left hand turn.  We were completely on the guages.  At about that time, #2 lost sight of us.

In a formation flight, if you lose sight of the lead aircraft, you break down and away to avoid colliding.  When number 2 broke down and away, he basically went upside down in dense clouds.  He was flying an old T-37 with a J-8 attitude indicator.  If you don't know, it's a peice of crap black ball that is very difficult to fly by.

The good news is we were pretty high when he broke formation, because when he was upside down in the soup with a J-8 he had no idea where he was.  Didn't gain control of the aircraft until about 6,000 ft.  We were trained to jump out if we were in an uncontrolled situation at 10,000 ft.  He didn't, but it scared the crap out of him.  Another situation where everyone was sworn to silence. 

[bvillepig]

This story happened to a buddy of mine.  He was an instructor in a T-38 flying out of Moody AFB, GA.  He was flying with a senior student on a low level nav ride.  The night before had been a little rough.  After wheels up, he told the stud he would take a little nap, if anything happened wake him up. 

Well, what woke him up was Atlanta center calling on guard.  Of course it took him a while to figure out where the hell he was, took control of the plane, turned the radio off, and headed back to Moody in burner.  All the way back, he was working with the stud, getting their stories straight, fearing he had just ended his AF career.

Since he went radio silent, and was obviously not where he was supposed to be, they were scrambling planes all over the place trying to intercept him and find out what the problem was.  Because he was using burners, no one could close on him.  Got back to the base rocked his wing like he was radio out and landed. 

He blamed everything on letting the student go too far.  I'm sure everyone knew he was lying out his butt, but he was a cool guy so they didn't drop the hammer.  We've had

Great reading. I can never thank you guys enough for your service both past and present.

[gotyacovered]

Great stuff tweet pilot.

I can't even imagine flying in formation and losing sight of a wingman.

Those T-38's sound fun!

[tweet pilot]

Flying formation with 3ft wingtip separation is the coolest thing you can do in an airplane.  In my humble yet most accurate opinion.  On my first night formation ride in a T-38, the lead pilot took me through a barrel roll.  Totally against the rules of course.  Think about that for a minute.  Part of that barrel roll puts you upside down, at night, with 3 ft wingtip separation.  Fun stuff.  Not hard, just fun. 

[tweet pilot]

It's nothing any other military pilot hasn't done, but I have flown many formation rides where the only thing I could see was the rotating beacon of lead.  You do have to pay attention. 

[gotyacovered]

I guess the lead pilot or plane calls out turns? Is there a standard rate turn/roll/climb? Or specific rates at which you turn when he calls the maneuvers?

[gotyacovered]

My scariest was on rollout  before I got my private. I was with my instructor after a cross country and we were trying to get to the airport before  a local summer boomer made its way to the airport.  The buildup was around 20 miles out but moving toward the airport.

Everything was good as I touched down but suddenly the winds changed to a quartering tailwind and I was heading for the bean fields surrounding the airport runway. Instructor taps on the rudder and saves the day and my airplane .  He didn't realize how unnerved I was so when he asked when I wanted to get together again I said I'll call you I am going to be pretty busy in the next few days.

As I drove home I was really thinking about giving it up. After a few days Wally called to try to set up for the next lesson. I began to explain that I just didn't think I was cut out for this. Of course he said get to the airport and we will talk about it there. I did and we got back in the plane to work on just a few fun things he said. He begin to explain the situation and reassure me that I was being a little to tough on myself.  He gave me a heading toward another airport and said land there.

He had picked some little airport that had a 40 ft wide runway and was 2600 feet.  Need less to say after a small debate which he won I nailed it .

I was glad I continued on but I did have my doubts.

Gotya it sounds like you are doing a very good job with managing your time. Keep the experiences coming as I do think it does a lot of good to share these things. I know I really enjoy talking aviation.

bvillepig - honestly i feel like i am doing just the opposite of managing my time, i should have had my private knocked out weeks ago. but thanks.

i am pretty frustrated right now with my limitations. 25nm from home base sucks.

sure would be nice flying to see my family over the holidays. gonna be a long drive!

[tweet pilot]

I guess the lead pilot or plane calls out turns? Is there a standard rate turn/roll/climb? Or specific rates at which you turn when he calls the maneuvers?

Nope.  The only thing the lead pilot calls out would be radio changes.  That's the fun of flying formation.  Of course it has a military purpose, but when you are just on a training mission, the lead pilot does everything he can to make you drop out of position, laughing at you the whole time.  Examples would be droping the speed brake, dropping gear, etc. without letting you know.  The challange of course is to see the gear door open or speed brake starting to drop and reacting quick enough to stay locked in.  It is something I will always feel fortunate to have done.  Many great pilots never get to do that 

[tweet pilot]

Bvillepig.   I appreciate your kind words, but don't confuse me with anyone who was ever being shot at while flying.  My experience was much like being a student, then an instructor at a University. 

They do say the purpose of the military is to deter the enemy.  In that regard I was very good.  The enemy never even tried to attack south GA while I was there.  Mission accomplished. 

[Flying Razorback]

Bvillepig.   I appreciate your kind words, but don't confuse me with anyone who was ever being shot at while flying.  My experience was much like being a student, then an instructor at a University. 

They do say the purpose of the military is to deter the enemy.  In that regard I was very good.  The enemy never even tried to attack south GA while I was there.  Mission accomplished. 

You a prior FAIP too?

[tweet pilot]

Student then instructor at Moody AFB, GA from 71 to 76.  Good times.

[Flying Razorback]

Student then instructor at Moody AFB, GA from 71 to 76.  Good times.

Where did they send you after being a FAIP?  I'm finishing my time as an IP as well. 

Most of those stories you gave would never be heard these days.  The T-6 replaced the Tweet and neither it nor the T-38 fly night formation.  It's been decades since the Tweet has flown night formation as well. 

There's a zero tolerance for bending the rules or withholding stories these days.  There's a HUD tape that records everything in flight now and any stunts will be found immediately.  I've seen several guys in the past few years lose their wings over stunts not nearly to the level which you mentioned above.

[tweet pilot]

Where did they send you after being a FAIP?  I'm finishing my time as an IP as well. 

Most of those stories you gave would never be heard these days.  The T-6 replaced the Tweet and neither it nor the T-38 fly night formation.  It's been decades since the Tweet has flown night formation as well. 

There's a zero tolerance for bending the rules or withholding stories these days.  There's a HUD tape that records everything in flight now and any stunts will be found immediately.  I've seen several guys in the past few years lose their wings over stunts not nearly to the level which you mentioned above.

Ha!  It's been decades since I flew a tweet.  I knew they had replaced it.  Wasn't even sure they were still training in the t-38.  Things have indeed changed a good bit since I was around.  Most of the IPs when I was a stud were guys back from Vietnam, most were none too happy training us newbies.  They weren't big on rules.
  As you can tell from my description of the J8 attitude indicator, the tweet in those days were not known for their advanced avionics.  We thought we hit the bigtime when we got DME

[tweet pilot]

I don't know why, but I couldn't go any farther with that last post.  In the mid 70's, with all the pilots back from Vietnam, they had a glut of pilots.  In 76 they changed Moody to a fighter base.  As I recall, only 4 IPs got flying jobs.  Everyone else either took an early out or flew a radar screen in some remote location.  I took the early out. 

My first child was born at Moody when I was a student in the T-37.  I was flying a night instrument ride with my IP when we got a radio call asking if I was on board.  To make a long story short, when we were informed my wife was at the hospital and we needed to return immediately, my IP took control of the plane and proceeded to do a split s, another prohibited maneuver.  Good thing they didn't have a way to monitor our flights back then, we wouldn't have had enough pilots to have an air force. 

[tweet pilot]

I am curious flyingrzrbck, when do they teach formation now?  I have heard they split training at some point and train some for the heavies and some for fighters.  True?  That's what the Navy did in my time, but we all had the same training until we got our wings. 

[Flying Razorback]

I am curious flyingrzrbck, when do they teach formation now?  I have heard they split training at some point and train some for the heavies and some for fighters.  True?  That's what the Navy did in my time, but we all had the same training until we got our wings. 

Formation is taught at the very end of the primary phase syllabus in the T-6.  It goes Contact, Instruments, Formation.  The class then splits and about 5 out of 25 go to the T-38, 15 or so go to the T-1 for tanker/transport training, and the rest go to UH-1N for helicopter training at Fort Rucker or T-44's for turboprop training with the Navy at Corpus Christi.

I've been a FAIP in the T-1 and am headed to the C-130J next.  T-38 students can go to anything still and out of 5 students normally have 1 or 2 fighters, a FAIP, a bomber, and a heavy jet of some sort.

[tweet pilot]

Thanks.  Way different than when we were training.  In fact in those days we usually had 2 or 3 guys that had helicopter wings that were coming back to get fixed wing.  Our class number 1 had been a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, went on to fly with the Thunderbirds. 

[gotyacovered]

i thought i would eventually read enough to figure this out, but nope...

whats a tweet?

[tweet pilot]

Tweet is what we used to call a T-37.  Also known as a 2000lb dog whistle.  Used to be the first jet used to train AF pilots.  After that students went into the T-38.  It was a great plane, like driving a jeep, wish I had one.  They just made a good bit of noise. 

[gotyacovered]

cool, wasnt sure. bet you had a blast.

[bvillepig]

Shoot I had to look up split S.  Had another vision of what it might be. Angelina Jolie and her Cirrus were involved.

I am straight now.   

Keep the good stuff coming.

[tweet pilot]

Not many more stories come to mind, but I will tell you about what I think is one of the best pieces of flying I know about.  One of my friends who is now an Airtran pilot flew a formation ride to San Antonio with the squadron commander.  On the return trip, they knew they would be on instruments the whole way, so my friend flew wing position, the more difficult position to fly. 

Not long into the return trip, my friend flying the wing position, lost radio contact.  He was flying solo, so all radio frequency changes had to be done manually, and by hand signals.  Think about that, he cannot take his eyes off the lead plane, he still needs to be on the proper radio frequency in case the radios came back up, so he had to remember what frequency he was on, without looking at the radio, change frequencies by counting the clicks, and maintain formation position unless he wanted to be flying in the soup without radios.  Pulled it off without a hitch.  I was very impressed.

[GusMcRae]

I have 2, and both were with a CFI in the right hand seat.  So, in both instances, I was pretty confident that either of these veterans knew what to do. 

The first was before purchasing our C-150, so we were in my CFI's POS C-150.  Had been doing T&G's at an airport about 12 minutes from home base airport. Lesson was over, so when we took off we were departing to the west.  We had only gotten about a mile away after departure and the engine started running extremely rough.  I think we were only about 1200 AGL.  The CFI grabbed the controls and said "whoops, sounds like we stuck a valve".  He quickly turned us around and landed on the taxiway, which was quicker than lining up on the runway.  It was impressive to witness how he could handle the plane in that situation.  He later said we possibly could have made it back to home base on 3 cylinders and the lower RPM, but he didn't want to risk further damaging the engine. 
They pulled the cylinder that afternoon, pulled that bad valve out, buffed it up and the hole out, stuck it back together and were flying it again the same day.

Other time was coming home from North of Huntsville, AL with the C-182 after purchasing.  Different CFI/A&P made the trip with me to do the pre-buy.  We made one stop in Pine Bluff to re-fuel and drain bladders.  We knew we were going to hit a front somewhere between Pine Bluff and home, wind mainly, no thunderstorms but maybe a little moisture.  Flying at 10,500, temps were right at the freezing mark, we noticed that our speed had dropped about 10-15kts.  It was night time by then.  Shining a flashlight on the wing's leading edge revealed that we were picking up ice, and about the same time, it was trying to freeze up on the windshiled. 
CFI requested to descend to 8500, which ATC granted, moisture started rolling off of the windshield again and before too long the front had passed and we started seeing lights on the ground again.  Made it all the way home but the CFI was almost ready to make the decision to find a nearby airport to land and wait it out.

Both were good experiences, but I am so thankful that both tmes I had a veteran in the right hand seat. 

[gotyacovered]

good stuff gus, i havent had any icing incidents yet, probably one of my fears at this point. that and wind shear, neither of which i have experienced. there was wind shear forecast at KHOT yesterday and i decided to drive as a result, they were calling it 200 at 2000" 35kts.

[bvillepig]

good stuff gus, i havent had any icing incidents yet, probably one of my fears at this point. that and wind shear, neither of which i have experienced. there was wind shear forecast at KHOT yesterday and i decided to drive as a result, they were calling it 200 at 2000" 35kts.

March 10 2010 I took off from KBYH for Rogers. It was scattered when I left the airport and I had checked and rechecked the weather before leaving. I knew Rogers was reporting 3600 overcast and temps mid 40's.  No icing airmets anywhere south of Springfield Mo.

I climbed to 10000 to get above and somewhere around Walnut Ridge it became solid OVC.  I asked for my descent to 4000 early so I could get down through the layer before I got to much further west as the temps were starting to drop.  At 4000 everything was good and the temp was around 36. I was IMC. Just before I got to Harrison other pilots to the west start reporting moderate icing around 6000-8000. I am still good at 4. Memphis center asks me to climb to 5000 for a plane coming off Harrison and I tell them I really would rather stay at 4 because there was reported ice above. I asked them for a different vector or even told them I would take a 360.

ATC  climb to 5000. I did. Bad mistake.

At 5000 I immediately started picking up ice. It took less than 30 seconds for the windshield to be covered. I asked Memphis for 4000 and reported moderate ice. My answer was change to Razorback and work it out with them.

Razorback let me go to 4000 quick but the ice was not shedding. I had a lot on the wings and had lost about 15-20 knots. I was still around 10 miles from the initial approach fix. I asked for 3100 which is the altitude you need to be at to start the approach but they could  not give it to me for another few miles because of terrain. They asked if I wanted to declare an emergency and I said no. They declared one for me which allowed me to descend to the 3100. I broke out at about 3900 and the ice just let loose at about 3600.

That 5-10 minutes was the longest time I have spent in an airplane. We landed with no problems but on Tuesday I got a call from the FAA. They wanted a full written report and asked me a lot of questions. I got another call from them about a month later asking a few final questions and clearing me of any violation. The  FAA gave me some very strong advice.

As a summary they advised me that I could have said unable. If ATC persisted I then should have declared an emergency and not wait on ATC.

All the pre flight planning I did, the calls to flight service and I did make quite a few, the conversation with ATC that is taped , those were in the records and I am so glad that I did all of that.

I learned a lot that day !!

[gotyacovered]

What a story.

So... Did you get questioned bc you didn't declare, or what? I bet the fact you were able to prove you didn't fly into known ice helped a lot...

Can't believe it builds up that fats. Man oh man.

[Flying Razorback]

I study icing more than anything else in my free time studying.  I've iced up pretty bad a few times but I have a really good anti-ice system on the jet and we can withstand moderate icing.  However, the pucker factor always goes up when you're watching it build up outside and you don't know when you'll get out of it.

[bvillepig]

What a story.

So... Did you get questioned bc you didn't declare, or what? I bet the fact you were able to prove you didn't fly into known ice helped a lot...

Can't believe it builds up that fats. Man oh man.

I co
He was conducting an investigation because an emergency was declared because of icing.  He never said that formally but that was how I took it. He was very professional. He did say that it looks like you did every thing you should have however maybe you could have declared an emergency earlier.

What was very eye opening  to me was that I had just descended from 10000 to 4000 with the layer starting at 8000 and did not pick up even a trace.  I had only been at 4000 for about five or 10 minutes when a plane going into Branson reported moderate ice at 5000. Then a couple of jets going into XNA reported. I was happy to be at 4000.

I really think if I had not asked for vectors or a 360 I might have got into trouble with the feds. I wished I would have refused the 5000 but I didn't. It was a flight Express guy trying to get off Harrison to Springdale and I was trying to be helpful. I know those guys have a pretty tough job.

[gotyacovered]

I study icing more than anything else in my free time studying.  I've iced up pretty bad a few times but I have a really good anti-ice system on the jet and we can withstand moderate icing.  However, the pucker factor always goes up when you're watching it build up outside and you don't know when you'll get out of it.

in avaition, one of the biggest pucker factors for me is exactly what you said... you dont know when its gonna end... the fear of the unknown!