> Lorn,
>
> Just a comment about your icing comment - the altitude at which
> you fly is
> not really the issue, it is the temperature.  Once the temperature
> is more
> than approximately 20 degrees below freezing, icing is not
> generally an
> issue.
>
> Thus, in the South in summertime you might fly at 17,500' and
> still be below
> icing levels, while in the North in wintertime you may already be
> aboveicing levels at takeoff (hope your heater is working well and
> you have
> sealed all those pesky air leaks!).  I have taken off in Northern
> Indiana on
> a solidly overcast day when the surface temperature was 20 degrees
> and the
> ceiling was at 5,000' with no fear whatever of icing.  Punched out at
> 10,000' into beautiful (but cold!) air with not a hint of ice
> anywhere.
> Conditions may vary!  Always be sure to get a COMPLETE weather
> briefingbefore flying into any visible moisture!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bill


Bill this is usually true, until you have an inversion [warm air aloft].. I've done
the same trip you mention, hit the clouds and loaded up real fast.. I fly a
known ice a/c so it wasn't a big deal [it was also forecast] but if your not
expecting it.. It would have made for a fun 'return to departure airport' proceedure,
if one couldn't climb out of it or through it quickly.  Ice will also sublimate
off the airframe once in the clear.. it's amazing to watch it disappear while
flying in below freezing conditions..  as long as you can get out of it quickly
or are able to fly in it and remove it faster than it's accumulating, you should be ok..

FWIW

Jarrett Johnson
235/320 55%