@Peter,
Isn’t it surprising that you did not collect ice in IMC with -7C ?
Maybe you mean that the other way round? I would fully expect ice in IMC at -7C.
What I think is unusual is Emir’s report of how fast he picked it up, in cloud so thin one could see the sun shining through it above.
The hardest thing about Merida is… finding some edible breakfast! 
The option is ham, cakes, ham, cakes, coffee. Even in the hotel, £200 for 3 nights, which is actually even worse. I’ve never seen anything like it. One has to treat a hotel like self catering airb&b
Scenery-wise it is amazing. Well worth a visit for a couple of days.
Sadly I think our two aircraft doubled the airport movements for the whole week i read the Apollo landings doubled the mass of the moon’s atmosphere…
A few more pics. The cloud one was just before Biarritz, and nothing more was seen of Spain until the last few minutes. Just as well since I messed up my camera and the battery ran flat after 2hrs, which is roughly around La Rochelle
The PA38 looked like it’s been there a while
Peter wrote:
I managed to stay VMC on top until about 100nm to run, eventually FL180, but got a fair bit of ice in the descent. It was about -7C at FL180 so it soon came off in the descent so I didn’t have to use the TKS.
I understood that 100nm before destination you entered IMC, FL180 and -7C.
Not sure if you kept flying at this level without TKS, or started to descend at this moment.
If you actually descended (which I didn’t understand in the first place !),100nm is roughly 30-40min, so well within TKS autonomy. Why didn’t you activate it ?
(because warm air is less expensive than TKS fluid: thank you Peter )
How’s wx looking for the return?
I understood that 100nm before destination you entered IMC, FL180 and -7C.
Not sure if you kept flying at this level without TKS, or started to descend at this moment.
I started descending at the point of entering IMC. It was clear the terrain sufficiently to go a long way down.
If you actually descended (which I didn’t understand in the first place !),100nm is roughly 30-40min, so well within TKS autonomy. Why didn’t you activate it ?
(because warm air is less expensive than TKS fluid
Yes
In the descent you speed up a lot and that takes care of the extra drag due to ice. I know from previous “experiments” the TB20 remains controllable with about 2-3cm of rough ice, providing you can get enough speed, say 120kt IAS. This was only about 5mm, and beyond that I would have used TKS to strip it off, which it does do even when well accumulated.
I now think the TKS needs to be used with extra caution when above terrain which is higher than the 0C level. Not only it could fail (obviously) but it could run out before you get clear of the terrain. It really is a tool for specific scenarios, where a Plan B (a descent into warmer air) remains valid.
How’s wx looking for the return?
According to windy.com which is really the most accurate tool nowadays, it looks pretty good. I am stopping at La Rochelle, due to headwind and also due to weird closures at EGKA on Monday due to staff shortages (the CAA has prohibited non towered operation during these closures; they allow it only when the airport is totally shut, bizzarely) and if I arrive with say 20 USG only to find the airport shut for an hour, that would be seriously bad – a diversion to Biggin wastes 200-300 quid, most of which is taxi fares.
PetitCessnaVoyageur wrote:
Peter was arriving from the north. Émir, were you arriving from East ? North East ? Is it related to the position of the front ?
Also, do you sometimes fly above FL200 (certified ceiling of the DA42 from memory ?) ? I guess you have plenty power left up there.
I was coming from north-east and I was almost three hours later than Peter so front moved a bit towards west. When filing the plan I had two options (flying from Beziers LFMU): to fly over Barcelona and fly through occluded front or to fly over Pamplona and Madrid in front of the front. I chose the later but the front was quite fast and it caught me a bit. Also the cloud tops were rising through the day and I literally could see rising them in front of me. So what looked like sufficient when I was crossing Pyrenees (FL190) suddenly became too low for cloud tops when I was approaching Madrid.
I don’t fly over FL200 (usually up to FL180 which is certified ceiling ) but with CD-155 engines I have sufficient power reserve even at higher altitude (at FL200 75% of power is available with WOT).
Antonio wrote:
How’s wx looking for the return?
Clear and blue skies
A few more pics. We are now done and ready to go back
Thx for the pics that keep us on topic!
Hopefully you made it back (at least as far as La Rochelle/Beziers). Sounds like a good balanced trip with a bit of everything!
The LEBZ-LFBH flight is tomorrow morning 0800Z
LEBZ 211700Z 2118/2218 VRB03KT 9999 FEW030 TX25/2215Z TN12/2206Z PROB40 TEMPO 2122/2209 1500 BR BKN003 PROB30 TEMPO 2202/2207 0400 FG VV001
LFBH 211700Z 2118/2218 07010KT CAVOK BECMG 2118/2121 01010KT PROB40 2206/2209 BKN006 BECMG 2209/2211 01015G25KT BECMG 2216/2218 BKN016
