Ice, Ice, and More Ice ... Can We Take Positive Steps?

[donsak]

I had a discussion with Dave McRae at Sun N Fun regarding this system for the Evolution. He said the controllers are better and would work with the existing heaters on the wings and horizontal stabilizer. He assured me this was a better system. I signed up to install it when we are out in Redmond this October for annual condition inspection. I am hoping it will be push and play instead of push and pray.

[Dan OBrien]

I have also put down a deposit for this system for my ES. Spoke with Dave Mcrae, and I am hopeful. We'll see.

Don, what have you done about your prop and windshield?

[donsak]

I have prop heat, inlet heat and windshield deice. I am hopeful this new system will work. It can use the existing ThermX heaters on the wings and horizontal stabilizer which I have already. Dave said all I will need is the new controllers.

[Dan OBrien]

I have prop heat, inlet heat and windshield deice. I am hopeful this new system will work. It can use the existing ThermX heaters on the wings and horizontal stabilizer which I have already. Dave said all I will need is the new controllers.

Thank you Don. Can you say more about the specific prop & inlet heat and windshield solution?

[donsak]

The prop heat is the basic Goodrich deice system that adds heat to the material on the leading edge of the propeller blades.
The inlet heat is a thermal material that is laminated in the inlet and heats up when electric current is applied.
The windscreen uses a spray bar with holes that directs TKS fluid pumped from a reservoir that is located in my right wheel well.

[Dan O'Brien]

Today was a perfect example of the value of even non-fiki deice in our Lancairs.

I live in Truckee, which is in a valley surrounded by mountains. It's been socked in for 4 days, fog in the am that normally lifts, but it hasn't been lifting due this this warm moist El Nino that is hitting CA this year with lotsa rain and little snow. During my window for departing to the midwest, the weather at TRK varied from Low IFR to IFR (200-700 foot ceilings, and cloud tops were showing at ~ 10,000 ft MSL, which is about 4100 AGL. Temps were 2 degree celsius at TRK, and the due point was about the same. Normally, one would think there would be about 3000 feet of ice climbing out, but the foreflight map and profile view showed no ice climbing out, while the chart in the briefing showed trace ice between 9-10000 feet. There was an inversion. BUT, with 4000 feet of soup in the mountains in TRK, I didn't trust it. People more experienced with ice can tell me what theyd have done. A long talk with a briefer and myself said I didn't want to risk it. Once above the layer, I had severe clear (well, almost) all the way to Casper, WY, 500 odd nm away, which is where I would stop for fuel if winds were too light to reach WI.

If I had deice, fiki or not, I would have gone, in a heartbeat, legally. But I didn't go because I didn't trust the forecast and have seen too many planes have bad outcomes in unexpected ice. Used miles and went "commercial" (the word itself almost gives me a heart attack).

I am conservative. Exactly the same issue caused us to drive to the LOBO Landing in Oct---possible ice getting out of the Truckee valley for about 10 min, then severe clear all the way up the coast to Sun River.

Maybe I'm just too careful, but I now have a handful of stories that look exactly like this: would have gone, legally, with deice, but didn't go without it due to concerns of being too close to the margins.

Just another datapoint on why a deice solution is high on my Christmas wishlist.

[Steven Bradford]

I've faced the same issues many times. But I am also conservative. Better safe than sorry. Good choice.