What do you use to deice your plane

In Alaska I never took off with ice on the wings, but I sure landed a few times with ice.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it... :yesnod:

Actually we used de-icing sprayer to get ice off before take off. The C-207 will carry a lot more ice than most folks would think. Or so I'm told... :lol:
 
Pinecone said:
I am simply amazed at the number of experimental test pilots on this forum.

Taking off with ANY amount of snow, ice, frost on the wings makes you an experimental test pilot flying an unflown/untested airfoil.

I will NOT attempt to fly any aircraft with ANY frozen surface contamination.
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The world isn't black and white. It's all shades of gray. Do you fly with bugs on your wing? Do you declare an emergency if you have too many bugs build up on your airfoil? I could never 'recommend' someone depart with frost, but more often than not its far more minimal than some horrific quality paint jobs or high bug loads.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
The world isn't black and white. It's all shades of gray. Do you fly with bugs on your wing? Do you declare an emergency if you have too many bugs build up on your airfoil? I could never 'recommend' someone depart with frost, but more often than not its far more minimal than some horrific quality paint jobs or high bug loads.
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Just don't take off with bugs and frost. Child protective services will come and take your airplane away if they catch you flying at Christmas with bugs from July still on the windshield.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
The world isn't black and white. It's all shades of gray. Do you fly with bugs on your wing? Do you declare an emergency if you have too many bugs build up on your airfoil? I could never 'recommend' someone depart with frost, but more often than not its far more minimal than some horrific quality paint jobs or high bug loads.
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The point is, you don't know. You can't measure it.

You do it this time, it works. The next time, it looks the same, but isn't and it doesn't work.
 
I hope the OP does not mind if I post this here.
I flew yesterday afternoon and it was a bad day for ice in the carburetor.
3 times I experienced ice.
First on the ground during warm up which has happened several times before. Even during warmer conditions.

Then a second time on climb out from the airport.
Then again just 60 seconds later at cruise power. Then a couple more times I could feel a slight vibration during cruise, I pulled the carb heat then it was smooth again when I pushed it in.
Can't remember a day with this much ice? Conditions were right 29- 30°F 70+% humidity and just 500 ft below the clouds which were approx 3000-3500' Humidity could have been higher close to the clouds?

Wondering if I had warmed it up more before flight if that would have helped as I did not warm the oil or the inside the cowl with a hair dryer that I use sometimes? On the ground it was 35-40° so I was not thinking about ice at all. When I took off the oil temp gauge came off the bottom so it wasn't stone cold.

I also have a power flow exhaust which does not have a muffler. It has 4 tuned(same length) head pipes and they join into a collector that exhaust directly through the tail pipe. It is the short stack system and does not have that long tail pipe running under the cowl.
It does help the motor run a little better and am thinking it is amplifying the carb icing because of the additional flow?

My hangar neighbor flew his 182 for short bit yesterday checking out a overhauled DG and he said he didn't have any problems. There was at least 2 school 172 flying yesterday but I din't ask them if they expereinced it.

I have experienced carb ice numerous times in the past usually after descending through clouds.
It was no fun worrying about if it was going to keep running.
I have flown this plane over a 1000 hours and this engine 650 hrs and had not had this much trouble so this day was an eye opener. for me. Any input? TIA
 
Stewartb said:
You don’t know what you don’t know. Nothing wrong with that if you’re happy. Not everyone feels the same. For many years the FAA had a procedure for polishing frost smooth prior to flight. The zero tolerance for frost is relatively recent.
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Unfortunately most of the pilots using that procedure were using it on airplanes that didn’t authorize it.
 
Gilbert Buettner said:
Consider leaving the carb heat on for the rest of the flight. If there is that much humidity in the air, it is no surprise that the carb ice recurred.
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I will next time. I have been experiencing carburetor ice more recently. I was wondering why?
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
Why? His profile says he's from Oakland, CA. Does he know what ice and frost is?
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A few miles to the east there is the little ole mountain range called the Sierras - you may have heard of it.... "Donner, party of two..."

Taken locally last year in Southern CA, Ventura to be exact.

26b3124f-1b0f-4412-aa08-fc1b0d8b1e0a-snow_ventura_2.jpg
 
Zeldman said:
6 of us were going to Cracker Barrel. When the host asked for a name, I told her, ''Donner''.

No one in the group except me got it when the host called for ''Donner, party of 6''...
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You and I need to drink a few beers together..
 
I have a temp sensor at my carb so I always know if there could be ice. I have never had it below 75 while in flight and it was 8 degrees F at the time. On my RV with the carb on the bottom under the oil pan, it stays nice and warm. Considering I live in the coldest - wettest place on earth at least carb ice hasnt been a problem. I do check it before I start down as a habit from flying a 172.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
The world isn't black and white. It's all shades of gray. Do you fly with bugs on your wing? Do you declare an emergency if you have too many bugs build up on your airfoil? I could never 'recommend' someone depart with frost, but more often than not its far more minimal than some horrific quality paint jobs or high bug loads.
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How do you know is minimal and OK? It may look the same, but not be exactly the same. That is why I say you are a test pilot.

Hmm, competition gliders have systems to remove the bugs in flight. They make a BIG difference.
 
Pinecone said:
How do you know is minimal and OK? It may look the same, but not be exactly the same. That is why I say you are a test pilot.

Hmm, competition gliders have systems to remove the bugs in flight. They make a BIG difference.
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That’s kind of the point. If removing bugs would make a big difference, then leaving them on the wing would make you a test pilot. The reality is that almost no light airplane has a wing that is as sensitive as a competition glider wing to surface roughness. Everyone should set personal minimums for wing cleanliness before takeoff, and it’s okay if yours are different than mine or someone else’s.
 
Can I blow warm air from a hair dryer on the wings to encourage the frost to turn to water?
 
Justin M said:
Can I blow warm air from a hair dryer on the wings to encourage the frost to turn to water?
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Sure, but it might run down into the aileron hinges and refreeze. I've heard of a strategy of taking a garbage bag, filling it with hot water in the fbo, them running out to the plane and using it as a heat source to melt frost. Sounds like a lot of work.

A Terry cloth towel does a nice job of smoothing out frost. Leather glove. Tie-down ropes. Lots of ways to skin the cat.

I'm pretty sure @eman1200 's "one secret trick" involves the hookers portion of "hookers and blow". Also useful as a flotation device in those ETOPS situations.
 
I recently scraped off the ice with an old credit card. I don't recommend it - it takes a long time and just sucks, but the sun wasn't coming out and the temps were not forecast to go above freezing that day and we had to get out, otherwise we'd be stuck for at least three days due to IFR weather rolling through the area so did what I had to do.
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
I recently scraped off the ice with an old credit card.
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This method makes me nervous that I’ll damage the wing … am I scraping off the wax or paint?

Although the plane hasn’t been waxed in 6 years.

Someone in the club used an ice scraper on an 172 windshield a few years ago and the windshield had to be replaced.

I’m worried the credit card is as hard on the surface as an ice scraper.
 
Justin M said:
This method makes me nervous that I’ll damage the wing … am I scraping off the wax or paint?

Although the plane hasn’t been waxed in 6 years.

Someone in the club used an ice scraper on an 172 windshield a few years ago and the windshield had to be replaced.

I’m worried the credit card is as hard on the surface as an ice scraper.
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I didn’t scrape the windshield. I started the engine, turned on the defrost and that did the trick. After run up it was all gone. However for the wings, I had no other choice. It was either $800 to have the FBO de-ice it, getting stuck for several days far from home due to weather or credit card. The FBO didn’t have a hangar. Didn’t like doing it for all the reason you mentioned, plus it was one heck of a job. But the good news is, I don’t see any paint damage. If the wax came off that’s fine. The plane sits in a hangar and I’ll wax it in the next few weeks anyways.
 
My Michigan buddy who has been flying since the 70s swears by the credit card method otoh he has hangars so it’s probably a rare occurrence
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
However for the wings, I had no other choice. It was either $800 to have the FBO de-ice it, getting stuck for several days far from home due to weather or credit card. The FBO didn’t have a hangar. Didn’t like doing it for all the reason you mentioned, plus it was one heck of a job. But the good news is, I don’t see any paint damage. If the wax came off that’s fine. The plane sits in a hangar and I’ll wax it in the next few weeks anyways.
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I appreciate your feedback and response.

Thank you.
 
Pinecone said:
I am simply amazed at the number of experimental test pilots on this forum.

Taking off with ANY amount of snow, ice, frost on the wings makes you an experimental test pilot flying an unflown/untested airfoil.

I will NOT attempt to fly any aircraft with ANY frozen surface contamination.
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What if there’s a big bird crap on the wing? Do you need to go to test pilot school first? ;)
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
I didn’t scrape the windshield. I started the engine, turned on the defrost and that did the trick. After run up it was all gone. However for the wings, I had no other choice. It was either $800 to have the FBO de-ice it, getting stuck for several days far from home due to weather or credit card. The FBO didn’t have a hangar. Didn’t like doing it for all the reason you mentioned, plus it was one heck of a job. But the good news is, I don’t see any paint damage. If the wax came off that’s fine. The plane sits in a hangar and I’ll wax it in the next few weeks anyways.
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I would have spent the $800.
 
I wonder how cling wrap or pallet wrap would work? Black pallet wrap would be awesome.
Wouldn't be too tough to put on a layer or two, I would not think.
 
5QK said:
I wonder how cling wrap or pallet wrap would work? Black pallet wrap would be awesome.
Wouldn't be too tough to put on a layer or two, I would not think.
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That's actually a pretty good idea. You could run to the local Walmart/ dollar general and get cling wrap almost anywhere. I wonder how many rolls it would take. It'd take a while to do 40' 12" at a time. Pallet wrap would work great, but that's a big heavy item to schlep around.

I've seen people use blankets or sheets, but they're pretty bulky to carry around and can get wet. They do make custom wing covers, but again, bulky and expensive.

If it's that cold and you can't find a hangar, engine preheat is almost a bigger issue. I suppose walmart has extension cords too if it comes to that. I paid for a hangar in Kentucky a couple weeks ago because it was going to be stupid cold. $70 seemed a little steep. It was worth every penny the next morning when we loaded up in the warm hangar, the line guy towed us outside into the -15C & breezy air, and the engine fired right up.
 
This black wrap wouldn't be too hard to pack. Black would absorb sunlight much faster . Then cut it off and toss away. No mess. No fuss1000008858.jpg1000008857.jpg
 
dans2992 said:
What if there’s a big bird crap on the wing? Do you need to go to test pilot school first? ;)
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Really? One big bird crap is equal to a large part of the wing covered in frost or snow?

Glider guys have rigs to clean the bugs off the leading edge in flight due to the loss in performance.
 
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