Quote:
Originally Posted by fsnewton
Kirk,
Good looking 337. I was in the same boat as you minus the cabin class. I'm down at Harvey and just bought my P337 a couple of weeks ago. The one thing I don't have is deice...if I have the flexibility of turbo and pressurization, do you see not having deice as a big deal in the NW? I'm coming from SoCal where it's just not a big issue.
Scott
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Hello Scott,
Welcome to the PNW! I used to keep my T206 Amphib at Harvey. I learned to fly there too! Congrats on the beautiful airplane.
So deice equipment has become pretty important for me. I fly the Cascades weekly for work. You can fly the Dalles Columbia River Gorge to get under the ice, however it adds about 2 hrs to the leg. I do that often and have never been stuck. IFR MEA is lower and often you can remain VMC at pretty low altitudes because the large wide river is near SL. In addition there are quite a few airports to land at along the river if you get uncomfortable. Summer is better, but late September through Spring icing can be a daily occurrence over the mountains, and it can be quite severe. This area is known for aircraft ice testing. It's not so bad coming back home because you can remain above, and then descend though a small layer quickly once beyond the mountains. However the long climb out can be a different story... We get a lot of moist cold air stacking up against the mountains.
In short it's not a big deal if you don't mind flying a different route... However for me it can mean a 45min. direct can turn into lengthy 2.5hr detour.
Icing hasn't been an issue for me flying around the greater Puget sound area down through Portland onto Eugene, OR. It becomes a problem to solve when I need to get out East or down to California.
Love to meet up with you and show you the area.
Kirk