With the wonderful Lower Mainland winter weather not too far away, I’m wondering what methods other School’s are using for ground de-icing procedures (other than those lucky enough to be able to hanger their entire fleet!).
In the past we’ve used a hot water & methyl hydrate mix, but as methyl hydrate is a controlled substance (& toxic as hell!), we don’t want to continue using it!
Let me know what de-icing procedures you’re using.
Thanks.
Aircraft de-icing
Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, Right Seat Captain, lilfssister, North Shore
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laticsdave
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Herman Nelson and a bunch of towels. Takes time but works well.
"FLY THE AIRPLANE"!
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laticsdave
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Ref Plus 10
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comanchepilot
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Our school uses RV Antifreeze (can't remember what chemical it is - pink fluid) and has it in the chemical/lawn and garden sprayers with the screw on top/pump handle thing.
One of our PA-44's had some non-STC'd engine pre heaters installed which our AME removed and affixed to the bottom of the metal sprayer cans.
They are set on a timer so they are always ready in the morning. The fluid is so thin that once it is on and melts the ice, you can T/O without removing the fluid.
Just be dead sure there is nothing on the wings still, because just spraying this on doesn't always do enough.
One of our PA-44's had some non-STC'd engine pre heaters installed which our AME removed and affixed to the bottom of the metal sprayer cans.
They are set on a timer so they are always ready in the morning. The fluid is so thin that once it is on and melts the ice, you can T/O without removing the fluid.
Just be dead sure there is nothing on the wings still, because just spraying this on doesn't always do enough.
Retractable pilots do it with their gear up!
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costermonger
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Room temperature isopropanol, spray application. Works like a dream for heavy frost, but any significant amount of ice and it's a waste of time. In that situation, half an hour in a heated hangar is much more efficient.
We tried out heated type 1 kit last year, where you screw a heater element into a hand sprayer. Turned out being a lot less useful than the isopropanol. Not much pressure and basically no volume, which (from what I understand about type 1) makes it pretty much useless. Got nice and hot in the sprayer, started cooling as soon as it left the nozzle.
We tried out heated type 1 kit last year, where you screw a heater element into a hand sprayer. Turned out being a lot less useful than the isopropanol. Not much pressure and basically no volume, which (from what I understand about type 1) makes it pretty much useless. Got nice and hot in the sprayer, started cooling as soon as it left the nozzle.
