tks endurance

[BA299]

Hi all,
I'm a mooney owner since almost 1 year. As the airplane is going for a heavy maintenance period I'm considering to retofit it with the full tks system. But I would like to know? For how long can the tks system run? I asked to the dealer but they have no idea.

[scooter boy]

45 mins at max rate and 1.5h at normal rate.

the max you can get into the tank is 6.3usg.

Nice to have it at this time of year, I go through approx 20L per annum with my TKS equiped ovation 2. Most of my usage is between Nov and Feb but I have used it even in July/August.

Beware that the prop modifications will slow you down a little - 10 kts or so (the titanium strips on wings/empennage make hardly any difference to the aerofoil and the factory pilots blame most of the speed reduction on the prop).

What model do you have and how much are they quoting for the retrofit?

SB

[IO540]

How would the TKS prop slow you down, SB?

My TKS prop has rubber boots on it which have grooves on them to guide the fluid about halfway up the blades. It's a Hartzell 3B prop.

However, the wing TKS strips do reportedly have a big effect on the Cessna/Columbia 400.

[scooter boy]

IO540,
According to the flight test guys at Mooney who have flown aircraft with different combinations of TKS on wings and prop, the TKS installation on the prop makes the biggest difference.
I don't know why this is, Trey Hughes, (MAPA president, Flight Safety boss and Mooney afficionado extraordinaire) puts it down to loss of aerodynamic efficiency in the root of the blade.

It's a great thing to have at this time of year though.

I flew oop nurth last Saturday evening in the dark and landed at Leeds Bradford (My usual destination, Humberside and almost everywhere else was OVC on the deck in FZFG).
Multiflight took care of me and I was handled by a young lady for a small fee :E.
They put my plane in the hangar overnight and when I went back the next morning it was -5C outside, so well worth the £25 hangarage charge.
I shot back to Plymouth the next morning.

In both directions I picked up a little ice but managed to dodge around the majority of it, the time the TKS really comes into its own is when you are in frontal conditions and picking up ice rapidly, ice is definitely best avoided but it is nice to be able to buy a little time with the TKS.

SB

[cvlux]

CVS is quoting 2h30' for the mooney.

[IFollowRoads]

I'm a TLS owner with the full TKS. POH states 2h30 at normal flow from a full 6.3 USG tank (6.1 usable) including 'intermittent' use of the screen de-ice sprayer.

For the performance, the general feeling on the longbody list is that the install will cost you around 5-7 knots. The POH has a statement somewhere about it reducing the climb performance, I'll see if I can locate it and pass the figure back. A full (FIKI) install adds 35 lbs, and then a further 57 lbs for full fluid

I've used it a couple of times in anger this year, once at FL120 over Geneva, and a week ago at FL100 going to Troyes. For the latter occasion, I could have easily climbed on top, but it was a relatively short hop, so was happy to switch it on and let it do its stuff. Do beware though, if you take off into the freezing soup without having primed the system, the build up can get significant before the fluid get to the extremities