Flying & Light Frost
I went for a night flight last night to keep myself current and polish my night landings. It was a beautiful clear night, good visibility but only 3 degrees on the ground when I took off and only about 1 degree when I landed.
When I got out of the plane, I noticed a very very thin layer of frost on most but not all of the fuselage of the C172 I was flying. I did check the strut and under-wing in flight but did not notice anything.
I didn't notice any adverse control effects, nor did I notice any decline in performance (in fact quite the opposite - most likely due to the cold air) I had a great climb rate and really good cruise.
So my question is: would this accumulation of very light frost be of any consequence? We're not talking about heavy ice forming, just very very thin, light frost. (perhaps even lighter than what can be seen on your car in the morning after a frosty night)
Thank you for comments!
Alex90