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Authors: John O'Brien
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upcoming change to him. I looked at the clouds right over my head brushing against the top of the canopy. We had flown through some clouds enroute and ice immediately started forming up on our wings. I notified center that we were diverting to Altus and requested a vector direct. “Roger, Otter 39 flight, turn left heading 130.”
I keyed the mic button on the throttle and responded back, “Otter 39 flight, left 130.”
Looking again to the cloud base I could reach out and touch, I knew we had no choice but to climb. We were flat going to run out of gas before reaching Altus if we didn’t and the higher altitude would give us a better fuel rate and increased performance lengthening our range. But there was the icing to think about. Well, a certainty versus a possibility. “ Denver Center , Otter 39 flight requesting flight level 250 (pronounced two five zero).”
The reply came back, “Otter 39 flight, standby, expect flight level 250 in ten minutes.”
Well, that wasn’t going to work , I thought. “ Denver Center , Otter 39 flight declaring a fuel precautionary at this time and requesting flight level 250.”
The military is different from the civilian world in that we could declare a precautionary without having to go to a full-blown emergency. This notifies our control facilities that we were in a situation that wasn’t quite an emergency but could result in one.
“Otter 39 flight, Denver Center, copy precautionary. Climb and maintain flight level 250.”
Yes, we were just bumped up on the priority list. I looked over at the aircraft tucked against my wing and gave the throttle up signal getting a nod back. Moving the throttles up into mil power, I raised the nose. We immediately went into IFR conditions meaning we had only the instruments to guide us as we lost visual reference. Ice immediately gathered on our wings. Not only does this decrease aircraft performance, but interrupts the airflow. Enough disruption and the aircraft ceases its ability to produce lift and turns from a high performance fun machine into a brick.
As we climbed higher, I kept expecting and wanting to break out on top of this. By flight level 180, I realized this may not happen and was questioning my decision. Ice coated the leading edge of our wings but we were still flying. This, incidentally, is a good thing. At flight level 210, the clouds began getting thinner and I could see the sun shrouded in mist above me. The ice stopped increasing and I fully expected to break out on top soon. But as we continued to climb, the sun only became a brighter disk in the sky, however, visibility increased. I leveled out at flight level 250 - that is really 25,000 feet but we use flight level designations beginning at 18,000 feet.
The visibility wasn’t too bad so I sent my wingman to chase. This is basically a loose formation where the wingman flies about a 1,000 feet behind and to the left or right of the lead aircraft. This position lends to a flexible position where I could maneuver easier and the wingman wasn’t constantly adjusting the throttles giving a better fuel consumption rate. I looked at the fuel gauge again. Not good! I dialed in the navigation aid at Altus (TACAN) and looked at the DME (Distance measuring equipment. This tells how far from the nav aid you are). Once I locked on, I saw the DME which will also give you your ground speed. Looking at that and at my airspeed indicator, I realized we were also battling a 40 knot headwind. “Aw fuck, of course! Why not?” I said into my mask.
I was actually beginning to get a bit nervous and worried at this point. Peeling my glove back, I used the flight calculator on my watch, setting the ground speed on the distance. I then looked at the fuel flow rate which gave me the fuel required. I compared that number with what I had on my gauge. Uh oh . Those numbers
I keyed the mic button on the throttle and responded back, “Otter 39 flight, left 130.”
Looking again to the cloud base I could reach out and touch, I knew we had no choice but to climb. We were flat going to run out of gas before reaching Altus if we didn’t and the higher altitude would give us a better fuel rate and increased performance lengthening our range. But there was the icing to think about. Well, a certainty versus a possibility. “ Denver Center , Otter 39 flight requesting flight level 250 (pronounced two five zero).”
The reply came back, “Otter 39 flight, standby, expect flight level 250 in ten minutes.”
Well, that wasn’t going to work , I thought. “ Denver Center , Otter 39 flight declaring a fuel precautionary at this time and requesting flight level 250.”
The military is different from the civilian world in that we could declare a precautionary without having to go to a full-blown emergency. This notifies our control facilities that we were in a situation that wasn’t quite an emergency but could result in one.
“Otter 39 flight, Denver Center, copy precautionary. Climb and maintain flight level 250.”
Yes, we were just bumped up on the priority list. I looked over at the aircraft tucked against my wing and gave the throttle up signal getting a nod back. Moving the throttles up into mil power, I raised the nose. We immediately went into IFR conditions meaning we had only the instruments to guide us as we lost visual reference. Ice immediately gathered on our wings. Not only does this decrease aircraft performance, but interrupts the airflow. Enough disruption and the aircraft ceases its ability to produce lift and turns from a high performance fun machine into a brick.
As we climbed higher, I kept expecting and wanting to break out on top of this. By flight level 180, I realized this may not happen and was questioning my decision. Ice coated the leading edge of our wings but we were still flying. This, incidentally, is a good thing. At flight level 210, the clouds began getting thinner and I could see the sun shrouded in mist above me. The ice stopped increasing and I fully expected to break out on top soon. But as we continued to climb, the sun only became a brighter disk in the sky, however, visibility increased. I leveled out at flight level 250 - that is really 25,000 feet but we use flight level designations beginning at 18,000 feet.
The visibility wasn’t too bad so I sent my wingman to chase. This is basically a loose formation where the wingman flies about a 1,000 feet behind and to the left or right of the lead aircraft. This position lends to a flexible position where I could maneuver easier and the wingman wasn’t constantly adjusting the throttles giving a better fuel consumption rate. I looked at the fuel gauge again. Not good! I dialed in the navigation aid at Altus (TACAN) and looked at the DME (Distance measuring equipment. This tells how far from the nav aid you are). Once I locked on, I saw the DME which will also give you your ground speed. Looking at that and at my airspeed indicator, I realized we were also battling a 40 knot headwind. “Aw fuck, of course! Why not?” I said into my mask.
I was actually beginning to get a bit nervous and worried at this point. Peeling my glove back, I used the flight calculator on my watch, setting the ground speed on the distance. I then looked at the fuel flow rate which gave me the fuel required. I compared that number with what I had on my gauge. Uh oh . Those numbers
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