Hey guys, not sure if this is the correct category (if it isn't, feel free to move mods).

I am student pilot currently training to get my private pilot certificate. I had my first solo cross-country (In a C-152) over the weekend and encountered an issue that I would like to ask about.

It was a 54 NM VFR flight and the flight to my destination was fine, however on the way back I encountered mild percip as the weather started to deteriorate. I was thinking of diverting but an instructor had actually just travelled the same route about 20 minutes earlier and informed me before I left that it was ok.

Well, I didn't encounter much trouble however about 1/2 way into the flight my entire windshield and windows froze. I could not see anything out of any window. I notified the radio station I was following and they had me contact my home airport tower. I basically just put the cabin heat on and after circling my airport for about 1/2 hour it melted away. Regardless, it was pretty scary for me.

Anyways, my question is, are there any systems in small cessnas that could either prevent this, or once the windshield freezes, melt it in a relatively shorter period of time? It just seems weird to me that they don't include any type of defroster or the sort if this kind of thing is prone to happen.

My instructor told me that cabin heat is really all I need to use, but with the time it took to get everything cleared up (because it just shoots down at your legs) , had I not have had a GPS, I would have been in big trouble I feel like.

Anyways, any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you, nice to meet you all.

 

Glad you are OK.

I suppose, if we are talking about the interior moisture freezing on the windows, then turning the cabin heat on much sooner usually mitigates this. But, it takes just such an occurrence for you to know this. The exact same thing happened to me many years ago.

Some Cessna turbo 210's and Piper Malibu's have a narrow electrically heated pane over the left side of their windows to afford the pilot a narrow yet clear field of view.

 

Thanks for the info. If I fly again next winter, I definitely want to take one of those planes instead...

Actually, it was not on the inside of the windows, it was on the outside. I think that I should have had the cabin heat on much sooner, the only reason I didn't was because at that point I was really afraid about something else bad happening (IE, robbing the engine of more heat and it possibly shutting down). In retrospect it probably wasn't that much of a concern, but it was tough to make decisions without my instructor. I also believe that I should have just diverted when I saw the precip. Once I saw that my windshield was freezing though, I decided not to because my diversion airport was uncontrolled and I was worried about not having a tower to talk to.

I really felt embarrassed more than anything else. I felt bad inconveniencing the radio guys who i requested flight following with because there were a lot of other aircraft on the COM.

 

Also, I find it really interesting what you said about the trainers not having those kinds of capabilities. Reason being, at our flight school we have a fleet of C-152s but a few C-172s for instrument training. I would have thought that for instrument since you will be flying through clouds, they would include a few features such as the ones you stated to be safe.

 

The issue here is not how your aircraft is equipped, but the decision-making process that led to your CFI endorsing your flight with even the slightest possibility of encountering the conditions you described.

 

A lot can happen in 20 minutes. Follow your instincts. Plenty of planes have crashed despite the fact other aircraft "just went through there".

Congrats on even having the "do I need to divert" gut feeling!

 

You're not really going to rob heat from the engine by turning on cabin heat/defrost, as the heat is just air ran across the exhaust shroud to heat it up before entering the cabin. The engine will run fine with cabin heat on all day long.

Never feel bad or embarrassed for being the PIC and making the decisions that you need to make to complete a flight safely.

Good thing you made it down safely. Flying into known icing with an aircraft not properly equipped can turn into a dangerous situation.

 

Another thing to think about is that if your windows are icing up on the outside, the rest of the plane (including the wings) probably is too. Could get pretty dangerous pretty quickly. Sounds like you made some good decisions though and every bad situation you find yourself in now (and walk away from) is something in your clue bag that might save you later.

 

I think you did a great job with your knowledge and experience. Personally, I think you knowledge was lacking for the task you were attempting (lack of experience is a given), but you overcame it with some good decision making. Your aircraft is not equipped to fly in icing, you have no equipment to battle it.

Open the Limitations chapter in your POH. In there, you should find the words:

"Flight Into Known Icing Conditions Is Prohibited"

Flip to the Emergency Procedures Chapter. In there, you should find a checklist for:

"Inadvertent Icing Encounter"

Either you had forgotten either of these items, or you were not aware of them because you had not read them before.

Your study materials should have a section on weather, there should be a part in it about icing conditions. Here you can learn what aircraft icing is, why it's hazardous, and how to predict or detect it. And what to do as soon as you recognize it. You made a good decision to descend, but you waited way too long before you made that choice. That's okay. You didn't know what you were getting into.

Have fun with the training, study hard, and stay safe. Mother nature took the opportunity to teach you a lesson, and you weren't prepared, but you managed to land in once piece.

Hope this helps,

 

Is there a heat vent near the windshield? I seem to remember a small black tab on the pilot's side where the windshield intersects with the panel. It's waaay forward, slides left/right about 4-6 inches to redirect the cabin heat to the windshield. You may have to unbuckle to reach it. It should be in the POH.

Also, did you turn on pitot heat? Visible moisture and OAT < 40 degrees == pitot heat.