Flew the LNC2 to Kentucky today for the condition inspection. This was a tricky flight. I briefed the weather in some detail the night before to get a feel for tops (9-12k along the route of flight), convective activity (none), likelihood of icing (possible above 9k), winds (hairy at 30kt headwind initially, then 5-10kt later on).

Verified the weather this morning, then set off from N07-K24. Cleared route was "upon entering controlled airspace, direct Chatham NDB, vectors LANNA V30 ETX V39 MRB ESL V4 HVQ AZQ LOZ, direct."

Picked up the clearance via phone, told the controller I could depart VFR, he was happy to hear it, so off I went. This complicated things slightly as I now needed to talk to Caldwell tower (KCDW) immediately after departure since my route of flight would take me through their airspace. The challenge would be to talk to them and get a freq change to NY Approach before butting up against the next Delta, which was Morristown (KMMU). Caldwell cut me loose as I was passing abeam the tower, so I checked in with NY Approach who quickly identified me, got me onto a 180 heading and climbed me to 7000. Once they had me above the Newark arrival stream, they turned me west towards SBJ (not on the original plan, but easily added to the flight plan and backed up with the VOR receiver a few seconds after that).

I spent the next 2 hours or so not being able to see a darned thing, which is pretty tiring when you're hand flying. The workload was absolutely relentless between wind shifts, updrafts and downdrafts, monitoring outside air temps, turning the ram air on and off when going in and out of precip, and monitoring inlet air temperature (carb temp), employing carb heat, etc. I cannot stress the importance of having a carb temp gauge in non-fuel injected aircraft that flies IFR.

The first 2/3 of the flight generally took place at around 8000ft, almost entirely in stratus clouds with light to moderate precip and a smooth ride. It's hard to explain or recall the sights and sounds of the trip, but here are the 3 most memorable parts:
1) Keeping close track of temps at 8k, 9k and then 10k, eventually hitting ice at 10k, dropping back down to 9k and watching the ice go "buh bye"....twice.

2) Getting tired of being in IMC and in and out of performance-robbing clouds, I had a pretty good feeling that if I could get on top, life would be a lot better. I was able to get the climb from 8-10k but the controller said it would be a few moments before he could get me higher. The OAT was dropping, and I knew I had a very, very narrow window to get this climb done, or I was going to have to drop back down and try again later, or not at all). Just as the first crystals of ice start forming on the canopy, I receive the climb to 11k. By then, the speed has wound up a bit, and I have the ability to trade it for a quick zoom to 11k where I can sense by the change in lighting that I should pretty much be on top. Sure enough, at about 10,800, with 115kias (ie, just about out of gas in the zoom), I pop out on top, the OAT immediately shoots up to +6C and the ice quickly disappears. I have nothing but blue skies above, and every cloud I can see out to the horizon is below me. Success. I let the speed wind up, carb heat off, ram air on and off we go in 'go fast' mode at last, free of the shackles of IMC. It was a calculated risk, and it paid off. My workload went down to near 0 for the next hour as I enjoyed the view. As it happens, the tops eventually dropped down to around 7k, but I stayed at 11k as the fuel burn was lower in any case and the winds were pretty light by that point.

3) best descent phase I think I've ever had...continuous descent from 11k down to 3600ft for the IAF, except for one level off at 6k to bleed off some speed prior to entering the tops again, in case the ride wasn't as smooth. Shot RNAV RWY 17 approach at around 180kias because I knew it would be VMC below 3k and I was planning on doing a low approach to greet my friend at the field anyway. Broke out, got 500ft below the clouds while remaining on the approach, canceled IFR. Spotted what I thought was the field, but the angle didn't quite right. It was close, but not quite. I was on the final approach course, but the airport looked slightly off center and the runway was about 20 degrees off. I double checked the plate to see how the final approach course related to the runway orientation and noted it was straight in. I looked more closely outside and noticed the airport dead ahead, about 1.5nm away. I left the power where it was, pitched down a little more and savored the 215kias low approach that followed. Slow pullup at the end (actually, at that speed, it was more a case of releasing some of the pressure on the stick, allowing the plane to do what it wanted to do which was climb). 700ft into the climb (a few seconds later), start the crosswind turn, power to 12" and set myself the challenge of not touching that again since the winds were practically dead, making for a very predictable pattern. Gear...flaps, base, more flaps, what an amazing view. Turned a 1/4 mile final (tight pattern today), one more GUMP check and a nice touchdown to end a truly interesting flight.

What struck me after landing was that this was a really challenging flight, not because of stick & rudder, but because of the thought process and decision making a long the way. I could've absolutely stayed at 4-6k the whole way, been miserable, flown slowly and gotten there in one piece, but took a calculated risk to get on top and then reaped the rewards with a much reduced workload.

It also occurred to me that flying by reference to instruments for 2 hours straight was tiring, but not especially difficult. I can definitely credit the simulator with having helped with that task. I fly a couple of times a week (enroute and approaches) and never feel rusty when getting in the airplane, even if I haven't flown in IMC for 4-5 months.

If you're thinking about getting an instrument rating but haven't done it...you're missing out on whole new world of sights, sounds, utility, challenges and fun. Do it!