Airframe icing is one characteristic of flying I’ve learned to respect. Over the years, I picked up my share of it, once carrying at least a quarter-inch of the clear kind for another 500 nm or so before it melted on descent for my destination. In the winter, I pay particular attention to Airmets Zulu, along with temperature aloft and cloud forecasts. There have been many occasions when I simply cancelled or rescheduled a trip on learning the freezing level was at the surface or below my desired cruising altitude and visible moisture was about.
That discipline didn’t come easy. Although my airplane isn’t flight-in-known-icing (FIKI) approved, I flew it by the old saying, “Ice is where you find it.” As long as I had an out—warmer air below and/or clear air above—I motored through it to better conditions more or less routinely on many flights.
