Flying IFR in IMC with a Single Engine Piston

[peterh337]

METAR EGNS 051820Z 27019KT 230V300 9999 FEW018 05/M00 Q1002 NOSIG
METAR EGNS 051920Z 27018KT 240V300 9999 FEW018 05/00 Q1002 NOSIG
METAR EGNS 051950Z 26019G30KT 230V290 9999 FEW022 05/01 Q1002 NOSIG
METAR EGNS 052020Z 27019KT 240V300 9999 FEW025 05/00 Q1002 NOSIG
METAR EGNS 052050Z 27019KT 230V300 9999 FEW020 05/00 Q1002 NOSIG
METAR EGNS 052120Z 27020KT 240V320 9999 FEW020 06/M00 Q1002 NOSIG

TAF EGNS 050457Z 0506/0515 28028G40KT 9999 SCT020 PROB30 TEMPO 0506/0515 6000 SHRAGS BKN015CB=
TAF EGNS 050800Z 0509/0518 29027KT 9999 SCT025 PROB30 TEMPO 0509/0518 5000 SHRAGS BKN015CB=
TAF EGNS 051100Z 0512/0521 28022KT 9999 SCT025 PROB30 TEMPO 0512/0521 5000 SHRAGS BKN015CB=
TAF EGNS 051400Z 0515/0522 28022G32KT 9999 FEW015 SCT025 PROB30 TEMPO 0515/0522 5000 SHRAGS BKN015CB=
TAF EGNS 051700Z 0518/0522 28022G32KT 9999 FEW015 SCT025 PROB30 TEMPO 0518/0522 5000 SHRAGS BKN015CB=

I can't (without effort) get high altitude wx for 5/12/2011 but it sounds like you flew into a CB in the dark

I can get the meteox.com radar archive pic (too much effort to save a copy to some image site so I can post it here) and it shows loads of patches of TCU/CB stuff. Not actually over the IOM but about 50nm away, on the way there.

You would need to be fairly brave to fly at night with CBs around, unless you had a way to detect them (radar), I would say.

Just got the JAA IR BTW so my life is now devoid of any purpose.

[Pace]

Peter

Congrats on the Ir maybe now you will join the EASA support club : )
Yes it was a line of embedded CBS almost impossible to find a way through on radar so a case of choosing the route of least resistance : ( In the pitch black that's hard especially with a 30 yr old radar unit : (

Pace

[peterh337]

Last words of AF447, too

No, I will always slag off EASA.

[421C]

Congrats Peter. The 170A may have been a pain, but a first-time pass on the IR is a great result.

There is an article here: PPL/IR Europe - Weather Minima
which is very recent and has a summary of the regs on IFR weather minima as they affect private N and G operators, including changes resulting from EU-OPS.

[oflorica]

Australian flight

It is funny, every time I mention my flight I get asked to write about it. It was an interesting flight indeed. Perhaps I should get my thoughts together and put them on paper one day. I started in fact at Grand Rapids and flew across the US first. I had a choice to do the flight in a 206, 182 or a 172 and I opted for 172. I flew around Australia and Southern USA in 182s but I also flew around Australia in a small two seater ultralight 12years ago. I have experienced how lonely one can get in some of these parts of the world. Nothing compares though with the solitude you experience once you head South from Hawaii; words cannot describe it. I had engine failure, too. But isn’t there a risks everyday in everything else we do?

Oliver

[what next]

Hello!

An interesting string of failures ...

... and all of them could have happened in singles.

The C421 exhaust sytstem is the subject of much AD action and your failure has the smell of poor maintenance.

You are probably right. The problem is, that as a pilot you can only check the paperwork, not the actual work done (not even my degrees in aerospace engineering do help me, because I'm rather a theoretician in that field). On paper, this C421 was in perfect shape.

Your Mag failure is of more interest to me, you do not state if you tried to turn off the mags one at a time to isolate the faulty mag or if this was a failure of the drive system to both mags ?

It turned out later that it was a failure to one mag only (one of the internal gears had jumped a couple of teeth which resulted in a wrong firing sequence). Turning off that magneto in flight would have solved the problem. We were two (at that time CPL) pilots on board and none of us even considered that option. The vibration and noise were so bad that all we could think about was a mechanical failure in the engine (like a broken reduction gear) or the propeller. Since we had five passengers and luggage and a lot of fuel we needed to get back to the departure airfield asap, therefore we didn't try anything with the engine but concentrated on getting back quickly (the weather was not much above CAT 1 minima...).

[Contacttower]

Just got the JAA IR BTW so my life is now devoid of any purpose.

Bit of a thread drift but how did it go in the end? Did you do it in your aircraft in the UK or did you go abroad? I've got the ground exams all done now so I just need to get on with the practical training...

[peterh337]

The problem is, that as a pilot you can only check the paperwork, not the actual work done (not even my degrees in aerospace engineering do help me, because I'm rather a theoretician in that field). On paper, this C421 was in perfect shape.

Ahem... aircraft ownership is not like a BMW which you drop off at the dealer with keys on the dash. You have to get stuck in, and get pro-active, or you risk your life unnecessarily. The "business" is full of chimps.

Bit of a thread drift but how did it go in the end? Did you do it in your aircraft in the UK or did you go abroad? I've got the ground exams all done now so I just need to get on with the practical training...

Did it in my TB20 in the UK.

[S-Works]

Congratulations Peter. Not quite the walk in the park you expected, but a good effort nonetheless. Welcome to the dark side......

[peterh337]

Here we go again

[S-Works]

Are you incapable of taking a compliment?

[oflorica]

You are so right Peter.
Prior to my transpacific flight I had ferry tanks fitted. A special airworthiness certificate was issued and the plane was ready, “on paper” for departure to Hawaii. There is pressure on you to start the flight ASAP as the special airworthy certificate is issued for only a short period of time. I had numerous engine failures testing one of the ferry tanks. It took me a few days to work out a fault in the installation of the fuel lines. Had I taken the installer word who told me that I need to fill up the tanks, filled up the tanks and depart I would have been 40gallon short of fuel over the Pacific with nowhere to land before Hawaii.
It is easier to check these things in a small Cessna, not that easy when the aircraft gets complex – so you are at the mercy of the mechanics.

Oliver

[thing]

Lol at Peter and Bose.

[what next]

Ahem... aircraft ownership is not like a BMW which you drop off at the dealer with keys on the dash. You have to get stuck in, and get pro-active, or you risk your life unnecessarily. The "business" is full of chimps.

I don't agree with this statement. Especially as the aeroplanes get larger and more complicated (like a pressurized twin as the C421) and especially as the paperwork ("CAME/CAMO/...") gets more complicated and incomprehensible. As a laypesrson (and in this respect most aircraft owners and pilots are nothing but laypersons) you stand no chance to tell the quality of the maintenance from looking at those binders full of paper.

And how is an owner (or pilot, as in my case I was not the owner of that aircraft) going to verify the quality of the parts? You simply can't tell anything about an exhaust manifold until you have taken it out of the aircraft and x-rayed all it's welds. The are doing this kind of work on D-checks of airliners, but certainly not on SEPs and MEPs.

[peterh337]

And how is an owner (or pilot, as in my case I was not the owner of that aircraft) going to verify the quality of the parts?

What you can do is supervise the maintenance.

I do my own 50hr checks, with a qualified engineer (but could legally do them alone). So I see if the exhaust system is leaking, etc.

On the Annual, which I get a company to do (essentially because, for standard airfield-political reasons, I don't have access to a hangar where a freelance engineer could work on it with me) I tell them to leave all inspection covers open at the end. I then spend ~2 hours inspecting everything with a light - lockwires, split pins, greasing, the lot. I also check the spark plugs for torque. Then I spray ACF50 into the airframe and wings and let them close it all up.

If they refuse, go elsewhere. The message is clear, after all.

One company returned the plane with the inspection covers replaced (contrary to instructions) and I never went there again. The fact that the elevator trim froze solid at FL140 (-14C) on the first post-Annual flight despite being fine down to -29C previously, and despite my strict instructions to use only the correct grease (Aeroshell Grease 7) or none at all, didn't help

I realise paid pilots have to take the firm's word for maintenance but in that case I would do serious due diligence on who does the work. It is also usually possible to inspect quite a lot around the engine with a light (a torch, as they are unfortunately called in the UK ). I don't know anything about the 421C cowlings but can't they come off to the required extent?

you stand no chance to tell the quality of the maintenance from looking at those binders full of paper.

Of course - you have to look at the actual aircraft. The paper will always be 100% good. Only a mug will fail to rubber stamp every box.

You simply can't tell anything about an exhaust manifold until you have taken it out of the aircraft and x-rayed all it's welds

A visual check should be enough. They don't suddenly come apart. They are about 2mm thick, stainless steel or Inconel. You can get a pretty good idea of the condition visually.

[AN2 Driver]

do you want to be so low at night over water in a single???

Frankly, I don't even want to be that low over water in daylight and VMC in a single and quite possibly not in a twin either. That (apart from the tax SNAFU) is why I avoid Italy in VFR. And it is one bit which makes a GREAT case for the proposed Enroute IFR under EASA.

I've done some IFR on a single, probably the least capable you can think of, namely a Cessna 150, mine at the time. It was GREAT to avoid the said Italian TMA's, it was Great to fly night in VMC to get into an international airport a few minutes after night time legally and it was a sight less hassle than flying VFR. Long time ago, never had any problems. Today, I fly something a tad faster and more capable, VFR for now, but I long for the time I'll be flying it IFR (once I can afford to upgrade it and get my own IFR back which lapsed due to a hiatus in flying which was very stupid on my part to let happen.)

Will I take it into severe IMC? No. Will I fly it to ILS minima? If I can afford the AP to do so, I'll consider 400 ft or so. Icing e.t.c. is a no no anyhow. So are TS and all that.

Will I take off to get above a low stratus with a 1000 ft ceiling with a 2000 ft top? Hell yea. Will I use it to fly safely at FL100 under full ATC control in VMC or below the icing level in IMC through Italy's TMAs? Once they get rid of their tax stupidity, you bet. Will I fly a few minutes into the night, which now would mean a premature diversion? Sure.

Is that worth the effort? Absolutely. Last year I experienced the "near IFR" routing in full VMC over Croatia and Serbia and loved it. MUCH more relaxed way to travel than to scud run at 1500 ft to avoid heaven knows what areas and shooting places and to fly VFR holdings over densely populated areas at 1500 ft AGL.

VFR is nice to go sightseeing. IFR is good for travelling.

My opinion, others may differ. Yet, I fully support EASA's proposal for the Enroute IFR for all the reasons mentioned, even though I will go for the full one.

Best regards
AN2 Driver