Airframe icing today.. poor landing. coincedence?

[The Flying Pram]

A friend was badly injured, and his student died after they tried to take off in a flexwing microlight one winters morning. The wing had been stored the previous night in a barn - covered, but partially open. Apparently it had acquired a thin layer of frost - although no proper ice. This was sufficient to affect the wing characteristics such that they got airborne but the machine would barely climb. He put it back down but unfortunately lost control and turned it over.

TFP

[Big Pistons Forever]

There was a C 182 that crashed at a nearby airport to me some years ago. He made some poor flight planning decisions, picked up a bunch of ice on climb out and then tried to return to the airport. When he broke out of the clouds on the IFR approach he was at about 500 feet AGL. He then put the flaps down and without any warning the aircraft stalled. He was unable to fully recover and the aircraft crashed in a field short of the runway. He was not hurt but the aircraft was wrecked.

[sunday driver]

So, have I got this right...?
Icing on tail plane
1. Normal approach. No flap. As airspeed slows, tail plane stalls prematurely. Elevator ineffective. Tail goes up, nose goes down. Aeroplane also goes rapidly down.
Other possibility ...
2. Normal approach. Extend flaps (C172 or C150). Centre of lift goes back. Nose goes down. Tail plane angle of incidence increases. Tail plane stalls. Result as above.
SD

[foxmoth]

Not quite I think - you need to add
3. Normal flapless approach but faster - I would add a minimum of 5kts, more if the runway allows. Result, normal landing apart from a little fast

[Dark Helmet]

Excellent topic with some good advice and stories. Thanks to you all - I am better informed now.

[Pace]

We have all done it at sometime. i can remember flying a non deice anti ice capable Saratoga from Scotland south on the west side.

I hoped to beat a front forecast moving west to east and only having an IMC rating stayed below airways.

the front moved in quicker than forecast and I climbed to stay in clear air above the clouds yet below the airway.

That didn't work and i was soon in the clouds getting ice I climbed into the airway telling ATC what i was doing and why and stayed at 12000 feet till clearing front where i could again descend.

We all do things which looking back we were lucky but sadly some are not so lucky

Pace

[Sir Niall Dementia]

One that really surprised me was a Seneca over Exmoor about fifteen years ago. Ice was building up, the boots did their job but I was holding lots more forward stick and ran out of forward trim. The stabilator anti-balance tab had iced up and the aircraft really wanted to go up.


Passing 2 500' in the descent the ice cleared and the trim was suddenly in totally the wrong place, causing a huge pitch down moment.


SND