Skyscraper
Cleared for Takeoff
Kind of a beginner question here guys, be gentle
I'm planning an early morning flight for tomorrow with a temperature/dew point spread very likely to be much smaller than what I'm used to. Most of the flying I do is late morning/afternoon when the OAT is warm and humidity is pretty low.
The conditions tomorrow morning are likely to be around 30F with a dew-point of 28F (Humidity of about 96%). Skies are forecast to be clear. Cruising altitude no higher than 5,500 MSL and likely to be more like 3,500 MSL (planning final details tonight)
My basic question is, under these conditions, how much should carb ice be a concern? Is applying a little carb heat while cruising considered a bad practice? Do you guys and gals normally wait until experiencing an RPM drop before applying it? I know carb ice is possible even up to 70F with high humidity, so it's on my mind.
I'm mostly just concerned for the first couple legs as there will be some terrain to consider and the weather should be warming up and drying out quickly and should be of little to no concern upon reaching my destination.
Remember, I don't have a lot of winter flying experience, so go easy if I've missed something or just plain wrong in some of my understandings, I'm still a student here
I'm planning an early morning flight for tomorrow with a temperature/dew point spread very likely to be much smaller than what I'm used to. Most of the flying I do is late morning/afternoon when the OAT is warm and humidity is pretty low.
The conditions tomorrow morning are likely to be around 30F with a dew-point of 28F (Humidity of about 96%). Skies are forecast to be clear. Cruising altitude no higher than 5,500 MSL and likely to be more like 3,500 MSL (planning final details tonight)
My basic question is, under these conditions, how much should carb ice be a concern? Is applying a little carb heat while cruising considered a bad practice? Do you guys and gals normally wait until experiencing an RPM drop before applying it? I know carb ice is possible even up to 70F with high humidity, so it's on my mind.
I'm mostly just concerned for the first couple legs as there will be some terrain to consider and the weather should be warming up and drying out quickly and should be of little to no concern upon reaching my destination.
Remember, I don't have a lot of winter flying experience, so go easy if I've missed something or just plain wrong in some of my understandings, I'm still a student here