Bill,

Thanks for the story.  What was the lesson learned?

I picked up some ice two weeks ago on my way to Florida - not as bad as
yours but still got my attention.  Weather called for freezing level at
4,000 feet and 38 degrees at the surface.  Ceilings 800 feet.  I departed
Burlington NC to Boca Raton FL - minimum IFR altitudes were around 2000 feet
then dropping to 1300 feet.

10 minutes into the flight I started picking up rime ice at 4,000 feet.
Descended to 3,000 feet.  Still picking up ice.  Down to 2,000 feet,
airspeed at 140 KIAS at 75% power.  Ice came off the canopy but not off the
wings.  20 minutes at 2,000 feet and there was still ice on the wings.
PIREP at 6,000 feet near me reported between layers and temperature of 36
degrees.  I mashed the power forward and climbed to 6,000 where I quickly
shed the ice.

Before I left I asked the weather briefer how accurate their freezing level
forecast was - she reported +/- 1,000 feet.  This was one of those flights I
was considering scrubbing anyway.  I wish I had.  Now I know there freezing
levels probably aren't +/- 1000.

Much as I love my 360 - the speed, range, efficiency and fun-factor are hard
to top - I sometimes wish for things like:

1.  Backup static source.  Unscrewing the nut inside the cabin is better
than a bouncing altimeter, but gives me a bit of concern shooting
approaches - how accurate is the altimeter????
2.  De-ice would be oh-so-nice


Matt