Flight crew of B17 warbird aircraft has pitot ice. Later found pitot heat was inoperative.

Attributes
ACN	405796
Time
Date	199806
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : sea airport : bfi
State Reference	WA
Altitude	msl bound lower : 9000 msl bound upper : 9000
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : sea
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Military Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	cruise other
Route In Use	enroute : direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : cfi
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 160 flight time total : 29000 flight time type : 200
ASRS Report	405796
Person 2
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical inflight encounter : weather other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Flight bfi to ykm. Filed flight plan IFR. Flight plan bfi V2 eln V25 ykm altitude 9000 ft minimum in route was 8000 ft. Approximately halfway to V2 pitot tube iced up. Lost airspeed indicator and notified ATC. Returned to bfi. The pitot heat was on. Aircraft has no way of showing if heat is working or not. Later found that pitot tube was inoperative.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF B17 WARBIRD ACFT HAS PITOT ICE. LATER FOUND PITOT HEAT WAS INOP.

Narrative: FLT BFI TO YKM. FILED FLT PLAN IFR. FLT PLAN BFI V2 ELN V25 YKM ALT 9000 FT MINIMUM IN RTE WAS 8000 FT. APPROX HALFWAY TO V2 PITOT TUBE ICED UP. LOST AIRSPD INDICATOR AND NOTIFIED ATC. RETURNED TO BFI. THE PITOT HEAT WAS ON. ACFT HAS NO WAY OF SHOWING IF HEAT IS WORKING OR NOT. LATER FOUND THAT PITOT TUBE WAS INOP.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.