how much ice or snow can accumulate before damage
- Thread starter fast99
- Start date
The airframe can do +4G to -2G. Based on that and the abuse the gear takes during landing, I'd say it can take at least its own weight in snow and ice, probably more.
The wing area is about 160 sq ft, add another 100 max for the fuselage/tail.
2200 lbs of snow would add up to about 8 lbs/sq ft, which is mid-way between light and heavy for 1 ft of snow thikness. In practice, you won't have perfect height at the edges, so it'll probably take 1 ft of heavy snow to add up to that weight.
So, I'd guesstimate between a foot and two of snow before you need to start thinking about it. Which lines up well with pictures of aircraft parked outside and covered in snow that I've seen.
The wing area is about 160 sq ft, add another 100 max for the fuselage/tail.
2200 lbs of snow would add up to about 8 lbs/sq ft, which is mid-way between light and heavy for 1 ft of snow thikness. In practice, you won't have perfect height at the edges, so it'll probably take 1 ft of heavy snow to add up to that weight.
So, I'd guesstimate between a foot and two of snow before you need to start thinking about it. Which lines up well with pictures of aircraft parked outside and covered in snow that I've seen.
Jaminky
Pre-Flight
Just make sure you sweep a little snow from each wing as you go,my Bro from AK sent me a pic of a guy that tried to sweep clean one wing at a time on a Champ.It didn’t go well,tipped and smacked the other wing
A 172 has load factor limits of +3.8G and -1.5G in the Normal category and +4.4G / -1.8G in the Utility category. Given this, it should be able to approximately support ice accumulation of at least 1.5x its weight. If there’s that much, you’ve got problems of greater magnitude.
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2013
- Messages
- 5,323
- Location
- The independent worm saloon
- Display Name
- Mantis Toboggan, MD
Estimations are exactly that, but don't forget that loads due to lift are distributed differently than loads due to falling snow collecting on a wing, so things like bending moment at the wing root and/or at the gear will be very different - and all horizontal surfaces will be loaded in the same manner and direction.
My SWAG is "somewhere between a little and a lot"
Nauga,
PIDOOMA
My SWAG is "somewhere between a little and a lot"
Nauga,
PIDOOMA
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2022
- Messages
- 1,171
- Location
- Surrounded by Civil War ghosts
- Display Name
- Probably AI
- Home Airfield
- KHWY
If there's any damage from snow or ice, it will probably come from the airplane sitting on its butt. The last time a big snowstorm came through this area, it looked like the entire flightline was howling at the moon.
eman1200
Touchdown! Greaser!
at least this much
More than in flight.
By how much is a guess; then keep in mind the thickness of the ice, wet snow, or dry snow may not be an indicator of the total weight of the load.
There’s a picture of a Mooney floating around with 30 employees sitting and standing on the wing from tip to tip. Great marketing image. Nobody was on top of the fuse/emp/H stab though.
The first thing that goes bad, the tail loads up and tips down until the elevetor hits. That freezes, and any wind cracks the trailing edge. An expensive repair even when the parts were available from Cessna.
I donated a tire without rim for the tail tiedown to go through, and always keeps it high enough. Donated in 1985, and still doing its job.
As discussed above, the wings are not critical, but should be cleared from the ends in, alternating ends.
I donated a tire without rim for the tail tiedown to go through, and always keeps it high enough. Donated in 1985, and still doing its job.
As discussed above, the wings are not critical, but should be cleared from the ends in, alternating ends.