COLD deicing fluid

[407 too]

hypothetical -- of course --

here is the situation, helicopter sitting in remote location, wet snow/rain falls for a few minutes, followed by a drop in temperature, causing the whole mess to freeze :mad:

BUT, you were prepared and have deicing fluid in a garden type pressure sprayer that was sitting in the cargo bay, so it is naturally cold.

you find a ladder from some out-building and merrily spray the applicable surfaces in the hopes it will remove the rough snow/ice buildup.

anybody have any experience with using COLD deicing fluid, is it allowed on helicopters, how effective was it, or what would you do in this situation ?

[spencer17]

I had this not long ago in Ushuaia, Argentina. The helicopter was over night on the apron and the following morning there was a lot ice and snow on it. After removing the snow the guys from the airport showed up with two garden type pressure sprayer. The fluid was cold but it worked really fine. I sprayed it on the blades, rotor head and tail rotor. You have to be carefull when spraying the fluid on the rotor head because the bearings really don't like the deicing fluid.
In my opinion you can use it but you have to watch that the fluid doesn't penetrate the bearings.

Aleways happy landings
Spencer17

[vorticey]

at a camp with no hangar and flying around at minus 18 deg c. i got quite a bit of icing build up so i had to de ice. it took a long time and used a lot of methonol but it worked.

[MightyGem]

I've used ground de-icing fluid at ambient temperatures and it worked fine. I don't think that the temperature of the fluid is a factor, it's more the way that it alters the freezing point of water, in the same way that salt does.

[Floppy Link]

Mighty
you mean you didn't read the Eurocopter advice...
"...place aircraft in a warm hangar..." :}
F

[pa42]

Major carriers like it hot because it works so much faster--instant gratification! But the chemistry is the same, whatever, so if you've only got it cold, go ahead and use it. (If the deice fluid itself is solid, take the day off!)

Rotor head deicing? Hmmm, a judgement thing--the aerodynamic penalties for icy swash plate are minimal, so if the linkages are free maybe you could just do the blades.

Used to be a mountaintop weather observer (Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, 6288'), rime feathers built upwind on all our towers during storms (in cloud), once they got 3 or 4 feet long (50-100 pounds typical) we roped up the tower with an 18-pound crowbar & beat the bejesus out of the tower to knock off the ice. Which disappeared horizontally into the fog downwindward. Not, however, a suitable method for your rotor blades.

One of our guys was in a hurry, bashed a feather above his head. He was only 20' up, but underneath it when it hit the ground. Got out of hospital in just four days with multiple broken ribs. Almost, but not quite, received a Darwin Award.

[MightyGem]

Mighty
you mean you didn't read the Eurocopter advice...
"...place aircraft in a warm hangar..."
Who mentioned aircraft?? :ugh: