A B-25 first officer reported that at an 800 ft cruise altitude the aircraft deviated from the plann...

Narrative:

We were planning a flight and had been monitoring a line of weather from the midwest to the gulf of mexico. We found what looked to be the lowest spot but improving; and when it got to 1;500 ft ceilings; we launched. En route the ceilings were going lower; but we could still see light below them with good visibility. The pilot flying elected to press on. I was looking at the sectional; noticed that up ahead was a wind farm; and notified the pilot. He had gone off the planned track to vector around weather; so I wasn't exactly sure where we were. I thought the wind farm was about 5-10 miles ahead. About 30 seconds after I notified the pilot; he saw the supports of one turbine ahead; with the tops in the clouds. He added power and began to climb. We were immediately in IMC. The pilot flying is very experienced; but not recently on round dials. As he climbed; I attempted to call center for a pop-up. There were 4 frequencies nearby on the chart; but no one answered. Another non-flying pilot onboard noticed we were picking up ice and ran the carburetor heat and other engine controls for me as I dealt with radios. As we neared 9;500 ft; we broke out between layers. I was able to get approach for a pop-up; although we remained in VMC the rest of the way to our filed destination. Several contributing factors were involved in this event. One; we had departed late; and there was pressure to make it to base for a planned demo and static display. Two; there was a steep authority gradient in the cockpit. The pilot flying is also the owner of the airplane and we do things his way. I suggested returning to an en route airport for landing; but was dismissed. I did not feel I could speak up again. Three; the pilot flying had lots of bush experience in alaska and felt we could make it. We did right in climbing immediately; but I am not proud we flew into these conditions with passengers onboard.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B-25 First Officer reported that at an 800 FT cruise altitude the aircraft deviated from the planned track for weather and then encountered a wind farm; which forced a climb into IMC with icing and an IFR clearance.

Narrative: We were planning a flight and had been monitoring a line of weather from the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. We found what looked to be the lowest spot but improving; and when it got to 1;500 FT ceilings; we launched. En route the ceilings were going lower; but we could still see light below them with good visibility. The pilot flying elected to press on. I was looking at the sectional; noticed that up ahead was a wind farm; and notified the pilot. He had gone off the planned track to vector around weather; so I wasn't exactly sure where we were. I thought the wind farm was about 5-10 miles ahead. About 30 seconds after I notified the pilot; he saw the supports of one turbine ahead; with the tops in the clouds. He added power and began to climb. We were immediately in IMC. The pilot flying is very experienced; but not recently on round dials. As he climbed; I attempted to call Center for a pop-up. There were 4 frequencies nearby on the chart; but no one answered. Another non-flying pilot onboard noticed we were picking up ice and ran the carburetor heat and other engine controls for me as I dealt with radios. As we neared 9;500 FT; we broke out between layers. I was able to get Approach for a pop-up; although we remained in VMC the rest of the way to our filed destination. Several contributing factors were involved in this event. One; we had departed late; and there was pressure to make it to base for a planned demo and static display. Two; there was a steep authority gradient in the cockpit. The pilot flying is also the owner of the airplane and we do things his way. I suggested returning to an en route airport for landing; but was dismissed. I did not feel I could speak up again. Three; the pilot flying had lots of bush experience in Alaska and felt we could make it. We did right in climbing immediately; but I am not proud we flew into these conditions with passengers onboard.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1006400
Time
Date	201204
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Military Bomber
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 1710 Flight Crew Type 38
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Inflight Event / Encounter VFR In IMC Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

A B-25 first officer reported that at an 800 ft cruise altitude the aircraft deviated from the planned track for weather and then encountered a wind farm; which forced a climb into IMC with icing and an IFR clearance.