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Thread: Bell 222 & 230
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Old 16th Dec 2003, 21:02
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Bladestrike
 
Join Date: Jan 1999
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I'd hate to encourage you but the large blades of the 222 handle ice much, much better than a 76 or a 61. Having flown in the Canadian north for two decades, I've had a few encounters with ice, and the worst was in the 222.

We flew into unforecast freezing rain on a black night in the far north and in the time it took us to do an immediate 180, we built up a solid 1/2 inch of clear ice on the windows. We made an immediate landing at a nearby runway, even running it on as we weren't sure about our performance (although everything seemed normal). On shutdown, the 1/2 inch was everywhere, including the main and tail rotors....smooth and clear.

A buddy though, was coming down at 2000 fpm at 100% Q at Vbroc in the same aircraft and was lucky to shed it coming though 1000' agl. That was rime icing he picked up in cloud, hoping to climb through a layer to get on top. Imagine the indigestion!

Although I avoid ice or any risk of it like the plague, and wouldn't recommend anyone go near it, answering your question, the 222 does handle it better than aircraft with smaller blades.
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