Carb ice is not limited to airplanes. I plowed snow from my dooryard for many years with a TerraTrack bucket loader on lags. The crawler had a four cylinder Continental flathead and an updraught carb. Here, in Maine, quite often a snowstorm will break a severe cold spell as it warms up to snow. When that happens heavy equipment will take on a frosted appearance since it warms more slowly than the air. Several times when I started that machine and let it idle, it developed carb ice. It would run perfectly at first and the engine surface would soon lose its white frost layer. But after a couple of minutes the exterior of the carb would begin to turn snow white. The idle would become rough and black exhaust smoke would pour from the stack. It would soon quit! Since I flew airplanes, this made an impression on me. In an airplane you can't watch your carb in flight so when she runs a little rough you are never really certain that the carb iced, but watching that tractor told me that under the right conditions it will happen . Beware!
P.S. I eventually installed an exhaust manifold shroud on the TerraTrack which deflected enough heat to solve the problem.
Carb Ice
Moderators: GAHorn, Karl Towle, Bruce Fenstermacher
(Leading comments regarding flying vs driving were edited out of this msg by me in order to split this topic into a more proper category. They did not pertain to carb ice. They may be found in the Pilot Lounge under Flying vs Driving, split topic.) The remainder of this msg is as follows:
Mbeare,...I'm sorry to learn of your wife's disenchantment with flying as a family. Have you asked her if she feels the same way about travelling together in the family car? How about on the same airline flight? Eating from the same menu at the restaraunt?
I'm hopeful that you will introduce her to a professional adult counselor and to a calm, well-informed fight instructor who will give her an introduction to solo flight, so that she can overcome her misplaced fear. Fear is an overwhelming and debilitating emotion that should be carefully identified, addressed and conquered. Best wishes with that family issue.
To all: It's important to keep in mind that our passengers (including those we assume are familiar/comfortable with our flying) are intimidated by the unknown. A carefully worded explanation of what to expect before each flight is an important part of the preflight activity. If your passengers have never flown in a small reciprocating-engine powered aircraft,...then you should before the flight explain about the differences between your airplane and the airliners. Tell them what is about to happen before you do it. Don't just yank out on that carb heat knob without preparing them for hearing the engine slow down and change sound. Tell them that is part of the check which confirms things are working properly. Let them know that from time to time you will be operating that knob in flight. That way, when they hear and see the result, instead of being frightened....they are instead comforted ...by the result.
Never, never, never, ...show them your learned skills regarding unusual operations such as stalls, spins, emergency landings, etc.etc. If you wish to explain these issues on the ground after a first flight,...then fine. (No reason to raise issues of anxiety by discussing emergency/unusual items before a demonstration of flight that should be a confidence flight.) That careful and measured explanation is all they need to see and hear to give them confidence in you as a person to whom they can trust their most valued possesson....their life and the lives of their loved ones. Never violate that trust with a foolish and immature demonstration of those manuevers. If they show an interest in those things, then refer them to a qualified, competent, and current flight instructor with a mature attitude.
Remember, the most frightening things are the unknown and the unexpected things. And the most incompetent pilot and the one least worthy of a license is the one who thinks it's OK to demonstrate flight manuevers to lay persons who've not asked him as a qualified instructor for a flight lesson.
Mbeare,...I'm sorry to learn of your wife's disenchantment with flying as a family. Have you asked her if she feels the same way about travelling together in the family car? How about on the same airline flight? Eating from the same menu at the restaraunt?
I'm hopeful that you will introduce her to a professional adult counselor and to a calm, well-informed fight instructor who will give her an introduction to solo flight, so that she can overcome her misplaced fear. Fear is an overwhelming and debilitating emotion that should be carefully identified, addressed and conquered. Best wishes with that family issue.
To all: It's important to keep in mind that our passengers (including those we assume are familiar/comfortable with our flying) are intimidated by the unknown. A carefully worded explanation of what to expect before each flight is an important part of the preflight activity. If your passengers have never flown in a small reciprocating-engine powered aircraft,...then you should before the flight explain about the differences between your airplane and the airliners. Tell them what is about to happen before you do it. Don't just yank out on that carb heat knob without preparing them for hearing the engine slow down and change sound. Tell them that is part of the check which confirms things are working properly. Let them know that from time to time you will be operating that knob in flight. That way, when they hear and see the result, instead of being frightened....they are instead comforted ...by the result.
Never, never, never, ...show them your learned skills regarding unusual operations such as stalls, spins, emergency landings, etc.etc. If you wish to explain these issues on the ground after a first flight,...then fine. (No reason to raise issues of anxiety by discussing emergency/unusual items before a demonstration of flight that should be a confidence flight.) That careful and measured explanation is all they need to see and hear to give them confidence in you as a person to whom they can trust their most valued possesson....their life and the lives of their loved ones. Never violate that trust with a foolish and immature demonstration of those manuevers. If they show an interest in those things, then refer them to a qualified, competent, and current flight instructor with a mature attitude.
Remember, the most frightening things are the unknown and the unexpected things. And the most incompetent pilot and the one least worthy of a license is the one who thinks it's OK to demonstrate flight manuevers to lay persons who've not asked him as a qualified instructor for a flight lesson.