Flying in rain

[cdarza]

Could flying in rain be a issue for water contamination in the fuel / carbs. ?     I suppose a in-flight light rain would not be of concern, but for the sake of discussion, if you were to get yourself in constant relatively heavy rain - would the air filter get so wet that it would affect the engine operation. ?   

[Tom Baker]

An extremely wet filter can block the airflow, that is the reason you have carb heat/alternate air.

[FlyingMonkey]

I have flown through rain a few times, nothing really heavy.  There were no issues.  My biggest concern in heavy rain (other than loss of visibility leading to IMC) would be prop erosion.  I know this happens very quickly with wooden props, I'm not sure how resistant to it our composite props are.  

[Runtoeat]

Went thru a little rain yesterday - just a light drizzle that cleaned off the dust from sitting in the hangar the last few months! 

[Roger Lee]

Light rain won't cause the engine an issue, but can erode the prop leading edge if done long enough, often enough or if the rain was heavy enough. The other place I see rain issues is the paint around the edge of our windshield. I had a piece of paint chip out of mine and have seen several others with paint that had been peeled off around the windshield edge. One guy who flew in rain more than most I have seen and several areas around the paint edge come off. 

A light rain never bothered me because it was usually a short lived.

[FlyingMonkey]

Is there any guidance for what to do if you find yourself unexpectedly in moderate rain, to minimize damage?  reduce engine RPM to xxxx, etc?  I'm guessing ~4000rpm and 80kt would be a good start.

[gbigs]

Could flying in rain be a issue for water contamination in the fuel / carbs. ?     I suppose a in-flight light rain would not be of concern, but for the sake of discussion, if you were to get yourself in constant relatively heavy rain - would the air filter get so wet that it would affect the engine operation. ?   

 

Doing so in a CT is illegal.

[FlyingMonkey]

Doing so in a CT is illegal.

 

Don't be ridiculous.  Please cite the FAR that makes flying in rain illegal for a CT.

[gbigs]

In the 5 years 2006–2010, there were 72 occurrences of visual flight rules (VFR) pilots flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) reported to the ATSB. Seven of these resulted in fatal accidents, causing 14 fatalities.  http://generalaviationnews.com/2013/05/13/vfr-into-imc-kills-three-2/

 

14 CFR 61.65 - Instrument rating requirements https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/61.65

 

14 CFR 91.205 - Aircraft with standard category: Instrument and equipment requirements  https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.205

[FlyingMonkey]

We are talking about rain, not IMC.

[Roger Lee]

You can end up in some virga or light rain easily and it isn't IMC and you're in it for only a few minutes. Out in the southwest it may be clear all around and you may be 3-4K ft. under a slightly dark cloud and get some rain. I would never consider flying into any heavy rain. Sprinkling works for me.

[Doug G.]

Doing so in a CT is illegal.

???

[FlyingMonkey]

You can end up in some virga or light rain easily and it isn't IMC and you're in it for only a few minutes. Out in the southwest it may be clear all around and you may be 3-4K ft. under a slightly dark cloud and get some rain. I would never consider flying into any heavy rain. Sprinkling works for me.

 

Here in Georgia you can get into heavy rain, but you can usually see the rain shafts miles away and avoid them.  The exception is where you have a solid overcast with sporadic heavy showers.  In that case you could get in it quickly and without warning, but a quick 180° turn will usually get you back out.  I usually don't fly when conditions are hard to anticipate like that.

[Runtoeat]

I ran into a few brief spots of very light rain Saturday.  Temp was 45F and dewpoint 35F.  Visibility was 9+ miles, 7,500 broken with wind @ 5kts or less.  I knew where the heavier rain was on my iFly GPS and avoided this.  Nice flying weather.  Unusual to have rain without icing icing here in Michigan this time of the year.  Should be snowing and temps of 30F or less. 

[cdarza]

Light rain won't cause the engine an issue, but can erode the prop leading edge if done long enough, often enough or if the rain was heavy enough. The other place I see rain issues is the paint around the edge of our windshield. I had a piece of paint chip out of mine and have seen several others with paint that had been peeled off around the windshield edge. One guy who flew in rain more than most I have seen and several areas around the paint edge come off. 

A light rain never bothered me because it was usually a short lived.

Re the paint peeling off windshield edge -   what is recommended procedure to repaint, stop further peeling?  (Does this need any special attention or any paint will do?) 

[cdarza]

I dont fly into rain on a regular basis - but the temptation to fly into a light drizzle has always been a fun "plane wash". 

[cdarza]

[Runtoeat]

Cdarza, you left out the third arrow.  This would be pointing to where I'd be sitting on the ground, waiting for the weather to clear up! 

[WmInce]

That's a pretty accurate picture of my rearview mirror.

No more IFR. Those days are over. All fun while it lasted (42 years).

Last 3 years . . . it's just day VFR . . . and I'm lovin' it.

No regrets.

[gbigs]

We are talking about rain, not IMC.

 

IMC is any weather condition less than VMC.   In Class C, D & E Below 10,000 ft MSL if any/all are less than 3 statute miles visibility, 2000 ft horizontally from clouds, 1,000 ft above and 500 ft below clouds. 

 

When it's raining you do not have 3 statute miles of visibility, you are likely to be in or closer to clouds than 500 feet and/or within 2000 feet of the clouds (as defined by the ceiling).   METARS and TAFS give ceiling of cloud layers in AGL...

 

Thus, if you takeoff from an airfield that's 1000 ft MSL and climb 4000 ft MSL and the METAR says METAR KATL 051853Z 04011KT 1/2SM VCTS RN BKN030 02/02 A3006

 

You are in IMC and in violation because the CT is not IFR equipped (and you may not be instrumented rated).

[FlyingMonkey]

IMC is any weather condition less than VMC.   In Class C, D & E Below 10,000 ft MSL if any/all are less than 3 statute miles visibility, 2000 ft horizontally from clouds, 1,000 ft above and 500 ft below clouds. 

 

 

Well, duh.

 

if you can see through the rain it's not an obscuration and you are good to go.  You have to make a judgment call on whether the rain is likely to worsen, stay the same, or get better.  That is where a good weather briefing and experience come into play.

 

Rain in itself does not make conditions IMC, any more than the fact that there are clouds in the sky makes it IMC.  Or haze, or mist, or smoke.  You have to use your brains.

[WmInce]

For VFR weather minima, let us not forget . . . the criteria is FLIGHT VISIBILITY.

 

As per the "PILOT/CONTROLLER GLOSSARY"

 

Flight Visibility − The average forward horizontal distance, from the cockpit of an aircraft in flight, at which prominent unlighted objects may be seen and identified by day and prominent lighted objects may be seen and identified by night.

[WmInce]

Is it possible to have rain impacting the windscreen, but still have 3 or 5 miles of FLIGHT VISIBILITY?

The answer is yes. I know that from experience.

It simply depends on the intensity of the rain.

The presence of rain does not automatically mean IFR conditions. There is no publication which states that.

[cdarza]

Cdarza, you left out the third arrow.  This would be pointing to where I'd be sitting on the ground, waiting for the weather to clear up! 

[gbigs]

This thread seems to oddly apply to this conversation:

 

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/do-you-too-dislike-lying-cheating-pilots-mini-rant.101238/