The machine: 1952 170B, N8143A...semi-famous survivor of a mid-air collision with a Continental DC-3 in 1956 (as mentioned in a few aviation history books.) Stock C-145 and standard prop. One KX-155 with VOR/glideslope, with an ICOM handheld with an external antennae as backup. Apollo GX-55 panel mounted GPS, IFR certified enroute and terminal. No autopilot or marker beacon reciever. Narco AT-150 transponder with encoder... that's it for the avionics! Heated pitot tube and venturi driven gyros-a fairly new RC Allen attitude indicator, a Standard Precision full-face DG with a 1969 overhaul date on the case
(it works great) and your standard electric turn and bank as backup (the dog house kind; I hate turn coordinators.) Oh yes, and a JASCO 50 amp alternator. Better equipped than many 170s I think, but no Bonanza.The pilot: some middle-aged guy with 30 years experience and 16,000 hours, mostly on airplanes with many motors and pilots, but around 5,000 in GA aircraft, including 350 in 170s. Current and fully qualified, at least in theory.
The mission: a 187 nm cross country from Rock Hill, SC to Greenville, NC and return.
The weather: Solid clouds, with bases at 800 to 1,500 feet all the way, visibilities from 3 to 10 miles, light to occasionally moderate rain. The freezing level is 12,000, and so are the cloud tops. Ideal single-engine IFR,
if you feel comfortable doing that in the first place! The downside: 30 to 40 knot headwinds from about 2,000 to the stratosphere...well, it may as well be for 43A.
We launch into a 800 foot ceiling and light rain, and turn on course. Charlotte Departure clears us to 3,000 feet...once level I make the mistake of checking the groundspeed. Yikes...70 knots! I had filed for 5,000 but another airplane indicates it's even worse up there. So I request 3,000 all the way to Greenville. No problem, the terrain is flat as a pancake and there is full radar coverage, even at that altitude.
Observation one: At 105 knots TAS, a big headwind has a huge effect on your groundspeed, to state the obvious. It turned a 1 + 45 flight into a 2 + 45 one. If Greenville was near minimums (it wasn't) I would have had to re-think the alternate. As it was, I kept close tabs on the weather at airports along the way by listening to the respective ASOS/AWOS. If PGV had dropped close to minimums, I would have landed for fuel. The 170s speed and range is quite a restriction under these conditions.
After a turn in the hold at the outer marker, I shoot the ILS 20 at PGV, breakout at about 900 feet and circle to land on runway 2, since the wind is 030 at 15, another no brainer. It's raining, viz about three miles. A Cessna 421 is waiting at the runway end for an IFR release, pending our arrival and I'm expecting some kind of remark about Cessna 170s flying around in these conditions, but the radio is quiet as I taxi to the ramp. Leg one is accomplished!
Top it off, check the oil and let's get out of here! A quick call to flight service to check the weather ( it didn't change) and we are off!
On takeoffs into IMC with venturi driven gyros...if you are setup correctly, I don't see any problem. My limits - a 500 foot ceiling and at least one mile. Both my AI and DG are working fine by the time I break ground at 60 MPH, the suction gauge showing about 3.5 hg. If you fly IFR in your 170, PLEASE have the best setup possible - two venturis, or one so-called "super" nine inch venturi like I have. There has been much discussion about this on the boards. It is a simple, reliable system, and I prefer it to ANY vacuum pump setup on my airplane!
Now the fun part...in solid clouds again - at 4,000 feet the ground speed is 145 knots! Like having an early model Bonanza. I had filed for 6,000, but I was happy with 40 knots on the tail, so I stayed at 4,000. That's more like it! With the Apollo GPS moving map display, this is a long way from the first 170 I flew, back in 1974. It is the only way to fly, especially in the clouds. I don't miss not having DME or ADF, and there isn't the panel space for them anyway. The GX-55 is not approach certified, but I can live with that.
Observation two: IMHO, the 170 is not the most steady IFR platform around. In pitch it is very settled; once trimmed it is easy to hold altitude. Roll is another matter...it is work to hold a heading, especially in turbulence. In smooth air I can stay the course with rudder alone, hands off. My airplane is rigged as well as anything I have ever flown, as evidenced by it's consistent 105 knot TAS, but it always wants to wander off one way or the other. Or maybe it's too many years for me behind an autopilot! At any rate, if I made a habit of this I would certainly install a wing leveller like the Century 1. Or buy a Bonanza or 310...someday.
Are we there yet? The day of hand flying IFR adventure is nearing the end. Cleared by Charlotte approach for the ILS 2 at Rock Hill...the weather is 500 and 5 miles. The configuration for an ILS is about 1,600 to 2,000 RPM, (depending on headwind), no flaps of course, for an approach speed of 100 mph. This also yields about 4.5 hg on the suction gauge, to keep them gyros spinnin. The outstanding over the nose viz gave a great view of the approach lights and runway as we popped out of the clouds. (if there is one thing an airline pilot is good at, it's an ILS!) Stay on the glide slope, power back, drop the flaps to 20 degrees and make one of my patented wheel landings. Mission accomplished!
I hand flew almost five hours solid IMC today; never saw the ground except for the take-offs and landings. I suppose I should mention that my airplane has the stock 1952 instrument panel, with gauges strung out from one side to the other. I'm used to it; like a kind of Gestalt experience, but I know it would bother some people.
Like other light single-engine airplanes, the 170 has it's limits as an IFR machine, but with proper equipment, conservative planning (NO icing, heavy convective weather or extreme headwinds) can be safely flown IFR.
For those of you out there just getting your instrument ticket, or low on actual instrument time, please keep it conservative - ease into flying your airplane in the clouds a little at a time. I worked my tail off today...didn't even plug in the CD player, I was so busy!
A few more comments. I have noticed after flying through light to moderate rain that occasionally my static intruments would jump, then settle down. In the clouds, I fly with the pitot heat on, even with temps well above freezing. I also installed the plastic sump bottle from Cessna above the static port. Much better than it used to be, but I'm open for suggestions...perhaps an alternate static source wouldn't be a bad idea.
Also, I have noticed water in the fuel after draining the wing sumps, after flight in the rain. I guess it is getting in the tanks through the fuel vent over the cabin. More seems to accumulate in the left tank, never more than about one half inch in the standard fuel tester. It never makes it to the main sump on the firewall. I don't like it, but I don't think anything can be done. I never heard of this being a problem, but....
Anyway, I enjoyed my trip today and just wanted to share it with you guys and gals. It was the most actual IFR hand flying I've done since the 1970s! Russ Farris
, etc, etc, etc. Hope to meet you if i go to the states some day, and invite you all to meet me if you came to argentina to eat a good asado!!! and get a flight in the virtually free argentintian airspace, managed by condors and eagles. My best regards to you all and please add me if you have instant messenger like yahoo, i really enjoy chatting with foreign pilots.