Carb heat on Grumman AA1B, yes or no

I have a Lycoming O-360-A1D in my Mooney. In the 70’s there is an NTSB report on my plane that it had carb ice so bad that they dead sticked it into Tucumcari, NM. I was almost killed by carb ice in my old C150. The guy I bought my Mooney off of lost his friend due to an iced up O-200 about a month before I bought the Mooney.
Carb ice happens and kills. Get a carb temp sensor and play it smart (or get fuel injection).
When you do a carb ice check with an O-200 (C85, C65, etc), be VIGILANT. Don’t just pull the knob and press it back in after seeing the RPM’s drop. Leave it on and see if you have ice melting and watch the RPM’s increase. It is not an instant process. I had carb ice on my C150 while in the air and it’s not dramatic; just was losing RPM at cruise. Textbook. When the carb plugs up 10 seconds after rotating is when you crap your pants.


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i fly archer, i may have used carb heat twice that too when there was visible moisture and the carb temp was around 30 degrees (i have carb temp probe). i also check the carb temp on final and make a determination if i need carb heat - never actually needed it so far
 
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