Winter Operating Tips

[FlaplessDork]

I'm a relatively junior Turboprop Captain, and this will be my first winter up north apart from instructing. Thought it would be good to start a thread on winter ops seeing how the season is now upon us. Post your tips and advice.

My biggest piece of advice would be to have someone more senior you can go to for questions and advice like your CP. I also have a bunch of friends with more experience across the country that I can call at a moments notice for advice. I think every pilot needs a mentor.

[Banjo]

- bring enough warm clothes for you and then some
- patience
- learn how to light up a herman nelson
- if all else fails, heat up the FCU and you'll be okay
- cold wx corrections, do them
- careful on the ice-covered runways, mind the bead on your tires... a day in the middle of nowhere because you were too jolly on the brakes is a dumb reason to miss happy hour
- learn how to work a CRFI chart vs. your aircraft's max x-wind component
- be careful on touchdown, if your nose wheel assembly has been greased up with 'warm wx grease' you could be in for a ride (ie. very little steering control)
- be weary of the dark, respect your altitude - use the 3, 6, 9 rule if you don't have approach lights
- give yourself lots of extra time, most of the time you won't need it... but someday you will

winter is the tough season, we earn our keep outside of the long days and the happy weather. you'll learn plenty your first few winters, pay attention to the senior captains around you. even if you don't like them, they've survived a few and you haven't - so keep a look out. have fun!

[Lloyd Christmas]

You'll have to excuse me, I'm a little slow.....

What's

the 3, 6, 9 rule

?

Lloyd

[Captain X]

a Rule of thumb a 3 degree slope i assume

3 = 3nm from the runway 1000' agl
6 = 6nm 2000' agl
9 = 9nm 3000' agl

[The Old Fogducker]

Have a way to heat your container of deice fluid in the middle of nowhere ... either an immersion type heater, battery blanket, or a heater blanket for your sprayer .... great deal of difference when cleaning off the leading edges.

Remember the saying "There's no such thing as just a little ice."

The Old (spray me) Fogducker

[Lloyd Christmas]

Thanks Captain X, I figured it was something along those lines.

[200hr Wonder]

Once you shut down get the tents and plugs in ASAP. Especially if there is a wind. Tents and plugs are the first thing/last thing you do even on a medivac.

Do not under estimate the need to heat avionics

The easiest de-ice is one you do not need to do so get er in the hangar or use wing covers

I have seen frost/drunken idiot on a snowmobile screw up vasi/papi so be sure to follow the 3,6,9 as mentioned

It is dark a lot so be sure to keep in mind black hole effect when doing approaches and so forth. There is a great video from the CF on the crash of a C130 near CFS Alert in 1991 to keep in mind

Layers, layers and layer, you should always be prepared to spend the night in the plane you never know

Be kind to your batteries they do not last nearly as long when it is cold. So think twice before firing the master on

Be aware of heating your breaks up, rolling through a windrow/drift and freezing your breaks up

Everything takes twice as long

And of course all of the above advice.

[The Mole]

Keep the battery warm. Remove it from the aircraft. Find a warm place for it. A frozen turbine will usually start with a strong battery.

[swordfish]

Drink rum on a regular basis
Socialize with everybody in the community
Get out of the house
Ask questions...no matter how dumb they might appear to be
Get good sleep
Continue to have sex daily
Or if that's not possible, do your exercises regularly
Don't smoke
Drink rum on a regular basis
Don't take your job too seriously...nor your colleagues...nor your maintenance section...nor yourself
Help other people without expectation of reward
Practise professionalism
Be courteous to other pilots, particularly competitors...you never know when you might need their help or guidance.
AND ABOVE ALL:
Drink rum on a regular basis

[swordfish]

Oooops! Almost forgot:

Don't drink rum on a regular basis ALONE!

Rum is best enjoyed in company of other rum drinkers.

[aileron]

Oooops! Almost forgot:

Don't drink rum on a regular basis ALONE!

Rum is best enjoyed in company of other rum drinkers.

I must add that Mount Gay is an incredibly solid rum. Also, drinking alone might be verboten; however, I do suggest drinking the rum, alone (from mix) you could add some of that ice you'll likely scrape off the nose cone after a tough day of flying

[SmokinJoe]

-Be aware of OAT at altitude and the durration your up there and the effect it will have on your battery. 1 hour at -40 and then trying to start a turbine after sitting on the ground only 10 minutes dosen't work too well.
-Always carry tent's, extension cords (with the proper adapters), plug in cabin heaters (for avionics), cell phone (or sat phone, or just a cheap $12 phone you can plug into a jack if there is one in the terminal)
-Fuel anti ice additive if you flying into a place that does not have it in their fuel (FSII?), and know how to add it.
-Remember, just because you called ahead and they said they'd meet the aircraft, don't bet on it. Have a contingincy plan if nobody shows up.
-Runway reports if it's been snowing, just because it snowed yesterday, does not mean the runway will be cleared today.
-Be aware of windrows
-Flying in the north in winter should be fairly uneventful, but it can bite you in the ass pretty quickly, know your airplane's and you limitations and stick with them.

Have fun and be safe.

[flying4dollars]

- Short sleeve pilot shirts show off your pipes, so no need to cover up those bad boys unnecessarily.
- Windbreakers save space in the closet (vs wearing heavy winter coats).
- Engine tents, heaters and de-ice buckets save time and effort in loading the plane, so don't bother bringing that stuff.
- Continue wearing your Ferragamo shoes and Ray Ban's (you never know when you get a good lookin passenger on board).
- Full reverse, pavement or gravel, doesn't matter. Save the brake pads. Also, passengers can't see you hitting the brakes, but they can see you pulling the levers into full reverse. Make it look dramatic, then they'll respect you more (must continue to wear said Ray Ban's, rain or shine).
- Don't bother plugging in any heaters. When you land and shut down, you're off the clock. Let someone else worry about the plane.
- 3,6,9 rule requires thinking. Just .. your way into that strip. Your GPWS will alert you if you're close to terrain. Full power, barber pole and chop and drop is a religion boys and girls. Follow it. Save time, reducing power and slowing with flaps and gear wastes YOUR time and adds airtime to the machine.
- Bring lots of beer. The cold temps and snow will keep it cold. A quenched pilot is a safe pilot. Don't forget to *clink* cheers to your wicked landing (do NOT remove the Ray Ban's when you do this step, very important!!!!)


If at least one person got a chuckle out of this I'll be happy Fly safe everyone! (Too soon for the happy holidays phrase?)

[swordfish]

I must add that Mount Gay is an incredibly solid rum. Also, drinking alone might be verboten; however, I do suggest drinking the rum, alone (from mix) you could add some of that ice you'll likely scrape off the nose cone after a tough day of flying

I agree. Apart from its name, I do declare that it competes finely with Appleton Estate Reserve, which is very silky on the way down.

We don't believe in icing up here....prohibited by protocol. But I understand the Q-400 is a little 'confused' over the matter...?

[swordfish]

durration dosen't tent's contingincy

OMG.

To livv in the Noerth, yu shud be coherrent (after drinking rum), but yu dont have to be abel to spel that wel.

[Meatservo]

You know, I've been flying in the north, day and night, runways/lights strictly optional for almost 25 years, and I have never heard that 3/6/9 rule before. That shit's gonna save someone's life someday. Keep 'em coming.

[swordfish]

Same here. Though I have applied the formula, I've never heard it referred to like that.

[fish4life]

Someone already stated the 3,6,9 rule but continue it right to the runway
3nm back 900agl
2nm back 600agl
1nm back 300agl

- Just because you can't see any NOTAMS about runway conditions saying its in crappy shape doesn't mean that it isn't really slipper / snow covered.

-Not sure what type of turboprop your flying but if you use your brakes and your taxing through a fair bit of snow you may end up with frozen brakes so different planes have different procedures to follow when this is the case because you don't want to land somewhere with a brake frozen and not know it blowing a tire or worse. As well if there is lots of slush and stuff blowing up take a look at how iced up your gear is, its possible (a/c type dependent again) that if you are getting slush and shit all over your gear rollers and uplocks that they may go up and freeze up requiring emerg gear ext to get them down. So check with your company and see if spraying them with some de-ice fluid will help, you can also spray your brakes.

-If you have just a little bit of ice on the leading edge of the wing and there is lots of blowing snow / it is snowing, just de-ice the leading edge(or if possible try rub/ break it off just be sure not to damage your boots in doing so) do everything you can to keep the de-ice fluid off the top of the wing because if you keep it dry it won't collect ice but if you get some de-ice fluid on top your just going to attract the snow and it will start to stick.

-As well consider your performance limitations a really slushy / snow covered runway will slow your take-off roll down considerably, so just because it "works in the book" doesn't mean that you can take that much weight out of the strip.

-Depending on the turbo-prop you will go faster in the winter but your also going to be burning a lot more gas due to the colder temps, so make up for it by going higher is your normally went to FL190 in the summer then maybe the same trip will be better done at FL230, just keep it in mind because most companies will use the same fuel burns for winter and summer.

I'm sure there is more that will come to me but until then have fun

[Captain X]

Back to Rum one more time.....

Try.... Zaya or Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva

[FlaplessDork]

Drink rum on a regular basis
Socialize with everybody in the community
Get out of the house
Ask questions...no matter how dumb they might appear to be
Get good sleep
Continue to have sex daily
Or if that's not possible, do your exercises regularly
Don't smoke
Drink rum on a regular basis
Don't take your job too seriously...nor your colleagues...nor your maintenance section...nor yourself
Help other people without expectation of reward
Practise professionalism
Be courteous to other pilots, particularly competitors...you never know when you might need their help or guidance.
AND ABOVE ALL:
Drink rum on a regular basis

This by far is the best advice yet.

[swordfish]

Back to Rum one more time.....
Try.... Zaya or Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva

I will have to check them out, but I've never seen those brands in the Yk Liquor Store. Of course they might be able to get them in on special order...

[KAG]

369 rule is otherwise known as the 1 in 3 rule, for every mile back from the runway add 300 feet (as mentioned above) this gives you a 3 degree slope - and does not reguire much thought.

A stiff broom is better then cold type 1.

Pound the landing if your flying a King Air and you suspect you have frozen breaks. If you have high float gear, drag the breaks while taxiing through snow to warm them up, and hang them a little longer to clear them out.

Night requires the utmost respect, especially up north. Your RAD ALT, and following the rules will keep you alive. If your going to do a night visual circling approach, have one guy on the guages and call ANY deviations - this is a must.

If your down low and can't see in front of you, you have no business being there.

[ihavecontrol]

Plan your descent. Try to mimimize your time in cloud if icing conditions are suspected. Ask ATC for descent at your discretion and level off above layers of cloud until you decide it necessary to continue down.

If icing conditions are serious, consider you may still have to conduct an overshoot (possibly on one engine) through the same conditions.

If required to hold, think ahead and ask ATC for an altitude which will keep you clear of icing conditions.

Study the GFAs and be well aware of freezing levels, expected icing conditions in cloud, and the possibility of freezing precip - situational awareness is critical.

Don't ride the breaks through snow on the ground to prevent frozen brakes later on, and if you suspect accumulated snow on the brakes, let the gear hang a little longer after takeoff to get it off.

Be that much more careful when taxiing and keep things slow and under control.

[fish4life]

Don't ride the breaks through snow on the ground to prevent frozen brakes later on, and if you suspect accumulated snow on the brakes, let the gear hang a little longer after takeoff to get it off.

I agree with everything except this some a/c procedures actually have you drag the brakes to warm up the breaks so there won't be any moisture on them.

[SmokinJoe]

If you are equiped with brake deice and your mains are located right behind the props, one thing to try is putting the props right into beta just after starting up to minimize the cold airflow going over the brakes and then turning on the brake deice. This will make the brake deice more effective.