Fuel Injection Icing
Hi all - any ideas on what could have caused this?
Flying an IO360 equipped aircraft with fuel injection, up a coastline after an uneventful over land flight. Weather is:
METAR 131820Z 26009KT CAVOK 16/08 Q1013=
1700' QNH, less than 1NM over the water flying parallel with the coast. 90kts, 2200rpm 6gph. Notice a reduction in power, increase throttle - no response. Full throttle gives no improvement. Excercise Alternate Air - SUDDEN LOSS OF ALL POWER! Alt Air to closed, regain 1900-2000rpm. Fuel pump on, change tanks, cycle mags no change. Declare a PAN and limp home. Power gradually improves but is by no means back to full by landing 10mins later. (still 6gph at full throttle)
Aircraft to be inspected by engineers tomorrow. Initial thoughts are icing to the fuel injection system, and if I'd left the alt air on (hindsight - great eh?) it would have cleared it as carb heat would. Doing some research this evening shows that Alt Air helps with impact ice only and that according to GASCO you can't get icing with fuel injection.
Any ideas? (ps still had fuel in both tanks on landing - before anyone asks!)