This is my first Winter as a flight instructor. So far, I hate it. To give a little back story, I come from a tropical country. Which essentially means it is Summer all year round. The only Winter or snow I have experienced was when I was on vacation. In other words, I don’t really need to go out into the snow if I don’t want to. However, it is different this time round. I have to work in these conditions. So, it doesn’t matter if I want to but I have to be out in the cold.
Though I am a flight instructor, my job scope is more than just instructing. I am also the admin guy, the receptionist, ramp agent, cleaner and whatever is needed to make sure things are functioning as well as keeping clients happy. It doesn’t sound too bad. I don’t mind it at all. After all, flight instructing is still what I did the most. Everything was going on quite well couple of months into this job.
Things Started To Freeze In Late Autumn
In Fall (a.k.a. Autumn), things start to change. The weather seems fine in the day but the temperature plummets as soon as the sun disappear. I dressed for the start of the day but not the end. All the daylight was used to do flights. By the end of the day, I had to do varies tasks like refuel the aircraft, moving of aircraft, etc out in the dark and cold when everyone else left. At times, it gets really cold at night. I will be refueling the aircraft while shivering even though there was only a slight breeze.
As one might know, during these situations, one would hurry and complete whatever tasks outdoors and get back inside. However, mistakes are caused when one rush. So, I just have to suck it and do them at the normal pace. The more I did these tasks, the faster I got. To make my life easier, I brought extra jacket just in case. (Which I ended up not using. In my mind, I always thought I can finish the tasks fast so I didn’t bother getting my jacket from my car.) Next, it’s all about planning, down to the detail and know in advance what I am going to do. An example will be like, nearing the end of the current task, I am already planning for the next task.
Seeing Ice On Airplane For The First Time
Since this is my first time I am flying in true Winter conditions, I didn’t know what to expect. I did read from textbooks saying frost and/or ice on the surface will increase drag and reduce lift and should always be removed before flying. Nowhere in the textbook says de-icing an airplane is such a pain!!
There were a few times the temperature below zero the night before. When I reach the airport the next day, there was a layer of ice and frost over the entire airplane. As we were not prepared for the sudden drop in temperature, I didn’t put the wing covers on (at that point we don’t even have wing covers at this base) and we did not have any de-icing fluid on hand. In order to fly that day, we had to deice the airplane. Just 5 minutes into the de-icing, my student and I looked and each other and immediately read each other’s mind. We decided to reschedule the flight to later in the day and let the sun do its work.
Learn From Experience
After that experience, I requested to get wing covers and de-icing fluid from my boss. My boss than gave me training on the wing covers and what to lookout for in order not to damage the airplane when putting on and removing the covers. Everything seems easy and straight forward. However, when it comes to the de-icing fluid, I got a lecture from my boss. First, he mentioned how expensive the de-icing fluids are. Next, he said “I have gone through a whole Winter using less than half a litre of de-icing fluid”. Followed by, “I have de-iced the airplane with my bare hands before”. Lastly, he said “if you don’t know what you are doing, you will use up the whole bottle of de-icing fluid but the airplane will still have full of ice!” After that, he left.
Nowhere in the lecture he mentioned what is the proportion of de-icing fluid and water and how hot the water must be. So I read between the lines and decided not the use the de-icing fluid at all.
This Is Just the Beginning
Every time I met someone new and was asked about my experience as a flight instructor, I always mentioned I have not experienced the Winter here and I don’t have a conclusion yet. I am not sure what to expect and I hope I survive. So far, it has only gone down to -6˚C for a couple of days and came back up to +6˚C then hover ±3˚C of 0˚C. So many people told me this is just the beginning and it will get to -30˚C or even lower! I will definitely have other stories as the temperature slowly drops to the point I will start contemplating my life choice. Being a flight instructor in Winter sucks! Stay tuned!
Check out me putting on wing covers here!!
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[…] is what I call a “real” Winter. I am glad I survived it as a pilot. Looking back at my previous blog entry. In retrospect, things weren’t that bad. But there are still lessons to learn from this winter […]