where ice on roads really is a thing
HaHa! This is the key to the bridge's slippery when freezing signs, there could be ice on the bridge, when there is
no ice on the road!
In Canada, the driving schools
do teach this! (Just to link back to the theme of the thread).
I was thinking more today (after thinking about the three strips fellow I'd seen entering the cockpit, while I was seated in 2A), back to when I was a "new" copilot, 40 years ago, in a Twin Otter. I was flying, my Captain had gone to the back to fuss with the ferry fuel system in the cabin. My job was to simply fly the airway (in the south of France, headed south, in August). I found the need to add a little power to maintain altitude, then some trim up, 'lost some airspeed, repeat. Trying to be a team member, I wanted to just manage this, and not bother my Captain, as he had ferry fuel flow on his mind. But, as one could anticipate from my story, I could not sustain this, it was going bad. I was at max continuous power, slowing through blueline airspeed, and the handling was terrible - but I still had it straight and level - for the moment. But, it felt stalled to me, and I could not figure out why. I beckoned my Captain back to his seat, for his contribution to my not losing control. He was annoyed at my interruption, but acceded to my request. As he took control, he said with alarm "this airplane is completely stalled!". There was no warning horn, no buffet, just that spongy feeling, and going down under maximum power. What I had not thought of (over the south of France in August, just punching a few tops here and there) was ice. For other circumstances, this airplane had no OAT indicator. And, seeing the leading edge of the wing in a Twin Otter is not easy if you're not really looking.
The message is that my training handling an airplane at the brink of breaking in a stall had served me, while flying straight and level, at an indicated airspeed much faster than the stall "speed". Sure, I should have thought about airframe ice, (not new to me then), and the fact that we were well over gross with cabin ferry fuel certainly increased the stall speed. It all met at a point, and I'd got there, just flying straight and level on airway.
The way that my Captain "avoided" a stall was to lower the AoA, so we descended (I worked that out during a stressful exchange with French ATC), found warm air, it all melted, and life went on, but I learned something.
So, imagine many years later, my flying a very new, full FIKI Cessna 303, with the same fellow, now right seat with me, having the reverse icing problem, wings perfectly fine (I could see them in a C303), tail all iced up, and the airplane trying to yaw and bunt at the same time. Again, the only cue was handling(very poor) and control forces - no warning system - 'cause we were at cruise speed. Knowing what the approach to stall felt, with no warning system, was critically important to my fixing the problem before it became catastrophic.
So I value pilot awareness and confidence near the stall "loss of lift" aerodynamic circumstances. And.... I really don't like ice, even in FIKI planes!