The trip of my life!

[SkyHog]

I'll skip the perfect flight into Gastons, with 187knot groundspeeds into Bentonville, AR to stay with Chip, as that was just too perfect, and needless to say, it was amazing.

I'm going to skip past the amazing time we all had at Gastons. Needless to say, it was unbelievable.

I'm instead going to skip to Sunday morning, after the brunch. Sheri and I looked at weather, and we had a tough call. Looking at the weather, we figured we'd leave and be good in just a few moments, just beating weather that was building. We looked at the satellite and saw some bad news, but we should be able to beat it:

We started to pack the stuff up and get going, took one last look at weather and saw that things were starting to go nasty on us:

It looked like we might be able to scoot south and then west to get away, but the ceilings were coming down all around us, so we were stuck until the weather passed, which everyone figured wouldn't be long.....everyone was wrong. The weather just built and built until it got to the point where the storms were developing just west of Gastons and then moving over us. We were stuck.

A few hours after everything started going nasty, we started getting severe thunderstorm warnings. This was going to be a long, long time with nasty rainfall. I'd never seen rain like this before, ever.

After the storms finally moved through, we saw that we could probably get out of Gastons and head as far west as possible, and maybe get the rest of the way Monday morning. We all walked the field, and to me, it seemed soft, but everyone except me (and Kate, I believe), determined that it was ok. We watched a Bonanza try to take off, and he just ripped the field to shreds and completely lost control on the way out. That was all I needed to see, no one was getting out for a while.

The sun came out and started to heat up the ground enough that it dried out a bit, and slowly, everyone made their way out of Gastons and over to Mountain Home, where we could at least assess our situation from a paved strip, where departure would at least be assured if the weather cooperated. Sheri took the plane over herself (with Greg in the right seat, since he's the grass king), and I stayed behind to give everyone a ride in the Gastons van to Mountain home (Everyone being Kate, Tristan and Sharon).

Night was near (at this point, it was near 8pm already), and departure would have to be perfect to get out. It was nowhere near perfect at this point, as heading west, at night, into thunderstorms, was not a smart idea. Heading north, Tony and Matt made it, and they did it successfully. I personally would not have made the same go decision even if heading north, but everyone has different comfort levels, and it worked out ok for them!

So - Jesse, Tristan, Greg, Sharon, Kent, Kate, Sheri, Mike, and myself went out to get some dry clothes from Walmart and then went to get some food (Actually decent Mexican food in Arkansas, I was surprised!). Just before bed, I checked the radar again, and it looked like we might be ok by morning:

Come morning, we all checked weather, and it looked crappy. Crappy crappy crappy, but there was a big enough hole for us to slip through, so we pushed on, knowing we had an out if we couldn't make it, which was either back to Mountain Home, or a diversion to Bentonville if we went too far. At departure, the radar looked like this:

As we proceeded, we got in some NASTY muck, and it was not a whole lot of fun. The radar returns closed around us, and even making it to Paris, TX looked unlikely for a bit. We were in between layers for a while, on top for a while, under it all for a while, a small amount of scud running, the works. It was a poor decision to go, in hindsight, but I needed to get back to Arizona (judgment was slightly clouded, unfortunately).

In Paris, we got the most amazing weather briefing ever (eat your hearts out, FSS) but none other than our own Spike, over the phone. He told us we'd be good until we got to Borger, TX (our next fuel stop). He was pretty much right, it was bumpy, and we dodged crap, but it was way better than Arkansas was. We experienced Carb Ice (I'll let Sheri tell the story), but Sheri handled it like a champ.

In Borger, we were going to get some food, and rest for a few minutes, but things looked terrible to the west, and we knew we had better keep going and try to make it as far as we could. We figured we'd set down in Albuquerque to take another look. Enroute, we dodged some NASTY!!!! cells, but the bases were high enough that we could see them ahead of us, and aside from getting stuck in the downpour from one small cell (small, but amazing amounts of rain), we avoided them all. The weather that was west of ABQ had moved east, and we were in it.

We got down at Double Eagle and had my sister come get us to get something to eat and wait out the storms. It looked like they might be dissipating to the west, so we might be able to get out still.

As the storms dissolved, they left behind ceilings at around 300-400ft enroute. I am ok with short scud runs, but not 400nm of scud. So my parents put us up for the night (a life saver, I was running out of money at this point).

Now, this morning, things looked much better. We were sure we'd make it, so we planned to leave early, but the ceilings were still low until around 8am or so. As soon as they lifted, Sheri and I blasted off towards Deer Valley, AZ, to grab Piper and head back to Lake Havasu. The storms were a brewing on our way out, and enroute, we had to divert around a bunch of scud, diving into valleys to avoid the clouds, and climbing back up on top on the other side. We always had an out, even if it wasn't the optimal out, but it was there.

The rest was pretty much a non-event. I'm tired, and I'm home. Whew.

edit: I typed this in a hurry, so you can substitute Sheri for most of the "we"s and "I"s.

 

[Kaye]

Glad you're home safe, Nick. Sounds like it was a hell of a trip back.

 

[tonycondon]

good work nick. this is the fun part about doing trips like gastons. you force yourself to get out and get this kind of experience.

FWIW Matt and I had good ceilings along our route. at 3500 we were over some scud in southern MO for only about 20 miles ,could see the other side of it. then we were well under the eastern edge of that cell, in the green. light rain for that stretch. the only other clouds we encountered was a band of about 1500 scattered to broken blowing off the nuke plant at Jeff City. beyond that it was severe clear with 30 mile + visibilities all the way to Cedar Rapids.

 

[Steve]

Good experience to bank on for the next x-c. Good job Sheri/Nick.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

Nice narrative with the WX maps & gethomeitis.

 

[N6399A]

Great write up, but Nick's giving me way too much credit. Without him (being a more experienced pilot) I would have still be on my way home. While the weather we were able to fly in was far from perfect, it wasn't anything that couldn't be flown through and in some cases around. But without Nick I'd never have known that, simply because I wouldn't have tried. One of the downfalls of learning to fly in Arizona. One never has to deal with anything except some wind. I'd never climbed up between clouds before or had to fly under a 2500 AGL layer. So this was all new to me. Nick was great about it too. He'd point out a few options and then let me decide which one worked for me. Making the whole trip a fantastic learning experience.

Oh..........and yeah............that carb ice thing, that's a real hoot. It's all well and good to read about it, understand it, and answer questions about it, but when it happens the first time..........uh......yeah....... whole different ball game. Personally I think there should be some sort of defibrillator attached to the carb heat knob. I think I picked up a couple of wrinkles in those few seconds. But what a fabulous tool that carb heat is!!!

I had a lot of firsts on this trip and am still working on the list. Maybe I'll post it when I'm done.

 

[Bill]

Oh..........and yeah............that carb ice thing, that's a real hoot. .

You do know that the older carb equipped 182's are known to be real ice makers, right? Next time you won't be as suprised.

 

[N6399A]

You do know that the older carb equipped 182's are known to be real ice makers, right? Next time you won't be as suprised.

Ya know, I had heard that. And you're very right, next time I'm in those conditions I'll be resting my hand on that particular knob.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

You do know that the older carb equipped 182's are known to be real ice makers, right? Next time you won't be as suprised.

Bill,

Define "older"... I forget the carb heat all the time in our 1971 182N and I've never had it ice up on me. Do you know what changes were made and when to address the issue?

Thanks,

Kent

 

[Greg Bockelman]

Bill,

Define "older"... I forget the carb heat all the time in our 1971 182N and I've never had it ice up on me. Do you know what changes were made and when to address the issue?

Thanks,

Kent

I am interested in Bill's response. But since Sheri's airplane is a 1956 model, I think he was thinking late 50's early 60's older.

 

[Ken Ibold]

I am interested in Bill's response. But since Sheri's airplane is a 1956 model, I think he was thinking late 50's early 60's older.

Not Bill, but virtually all carbureted 182s with Continental engines show proclivity toward carb ice, if you listen to what the NTSB
reports say. I've not taken one apart to look, but as I understand it the configuration of the intake and the position of the carb make the design particularly susceptible to carb ice.

 

[Bob Bement]

Sheri, Does your 182 have a carb temp. gauge? That would help a lot to know when to apply carb heat. I purchased a new gauge as my old one never did work. When it gets down to 0 degrees C. and you have some moisture present you should apply carb heat and lean the mixture.

 

[Princess Pilot]

Great narrative Nick, thanks for sharing - I appreciate the way you reflect on your thought process and decisions. Educational and experience benefits aside, I think I prefer to read about it. Glad you and Sheri made it back okay. Sounds like you and Sheri made a great team.

JoAnne

 

[N6399A]

I don't have a gauge, but I have a great place to put one. And yeah.......... I'm already all over that.

 

[mikea]

I don't have a gauge, but I have a great place to put one. And yeah.......... I'm already all over that.

I have a temp probe on the carb on my JPI EDM-900. You also need an annunciator that will sound when the temp gets to the dangerous range - from above or below. I have other things to look at than the display while it's cycling through the various parameters.

 

[Tom-D]

I've not taken one apart to look, but as I understand it the configuration of the intake and the position of the carb make the design particularly susceptible to carb ice.

You are correct about the location of the carb giving us icing problems.

Early engines had a problem of the carb getting too hot and causing the fuel to boil in the float bowl. and a loss of power resulting.

Contental designed a system of mounting the carb remote where it can be cooled and not be heated by engine cooling air. This resulted in the carb being too cool, and when evaporitive cooling takes place in the venturi the humidy in the air will form as frost on the interior walls of the venturi causing the venturi to loose its ability to form a low pressure area to draw fuel from the float bowl. thus no fuel transfere due to frost was as bad as no fuel to transfere due to boiling/over heating.

Thus contental invented a hot air system we know as carb heat to warm the air entering the carb.

You will only find remote mounted carbs on a contental and never on a Lycoming. All Lycoming engines and the Continental 0-300 series mounts the carb on the lower oil sump where it can be heated by the hot oil contained in the sump. thus reducing but not eliminating the icing, thus we still have Carb air heat.

 

[N6399A]

You are correct about the location of the carb giving us icing problems.

Early engines had a problem of the carb getting too hot and causing the fuel to boil in the float bowl. and a loss of power resulting.

Contental designed a system of mounting the carb remote where it can be cooled and not be heated by engine cooling air. This resulted in the carb being too cool, and when evaporitive cooling takes place in the venturi the humidy in the air will form as frost on the interior walls of the venturi causing the venturi to loose its ability to form a low pressure area to draw fuel from the float bowl. thus no fuel transfere due to frost was as bad as no fuel to transfere due to boiling/over heating.

Thus contental invented a hot air system we know as carb heat to warm the air entering the carb.

You will only find remote mounted carbs on a contental and never on a Lycoming. All Lycoming engines and the Continental 0-300 series mounts the carb on the lower oil sump where it can be heated by the hot oil contained in the sump. thus reducing but not eliminating the icing, thus we still have Carb air heat.

Thanks for the great explanation. I was wondering why some and not others so much. And not having had much opportunity to look at a lot of other engines, your post has helped a bunch. Thanks.

 

[Bob Bement]

I was taught that the first thing you do when starting to land is pull on the carb heat. The Carb can cool as much as 70 Degrees when the rpms are below 2000. So, that is what I always do and I have had no trouble for about 1300 hours in 9054N.

 

[bbchien]

I was taught that the first thing you do when starting to land is pull on the carb heat. The Carb can cool as much as 70 Degrees when the rpms are below 2000. So, that is what I always do and I have had no trouble for about 1300 hours in 9054N.

Here's one that Bob was looking at on the way home - we were able to dodge to the east and hook back to the west to get into STL.

It does matter what your tolerance and your escape plan is. STL Radio was very helpful, and it coresponded both to the visual (when we had one) and the Stormscope.

It's nice when everthing works out....

 

[Bob Bement]

I was completely at ease with Bruce at the controls, and Susan was taking a little nap in the back seat. As, Bruce he and the controller worked things out in great shape and we stayed out of the really nasty looking stuff on the GPS. I had never been in solid IFR conditions before , as I am strictlly VFR, But as I said I trusted Bruce and his airplane.