Years ago when I was struggling to learn to ski in the ice-covered mountains of the Mid-Atlantic, my ski instructor used to tell me in his cheery New Zealand accent that ice is nice. Later on I found out that flying down an icy hill is not the same as flying down an icy approach. I cannot honestly tell you which one was harder, avoiding ice on the Mid-Atlantic slopes or avoiding ice in the Mid-Atlantic air. Fortunately, I can say that the worst that I've had to endure on the slopes was an occasional bruised ego. In an airplane, however, structural icing attacks the basic unit of flight. It adds drag, causes a loss of lift and increases the stall speed.
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