My first real encounter with ice

[Dazzler]

Did some IFR practice approaches today, that went ok apart from a few mental brain farts (like requesting the VOR-18 approach at KFCM - which doesn't exist) but they are another story.

Anyway, the cloud base was around 3,000 feet MSL, with tops reported at 4,600 feet, so I thought it would be cool to request a block altitude 4,000-5,000 feet and pop up above the clouds for a bit.

The weather briefing I received before heading out had included four PIREPs from aircraft, each of which had reported negative icing.

But as soon as we entered the soup, my safety pilot alerted me to the quick ice buildup on the windshield. I looked up and sure enough there was a sheet of rime ice building up rapidly.

I immediately descended to 4,000 feet and requested to get out of the clouds and was cleared down to 3,000 feet. At that altitude we were just skimming the base of the overcast, but it didn't appear that any more ice was accumulating.

Once we got back on the ground, we noticed that every airfoil had a thin layer of ice covering it. We were quite astonished at how quickly that ice had built up.

After that we went for a burger and a beer, and I called in my PIREP to Flight Services.

Moral: Just because icing isn't reported, doesn't mean it isn't there. Conditions can change in an instant, for the better or for the worse.