Icing and De-Icing
Happened to be in Msocow yesterday and left the aiport late in the evening.
At the time the OAT was -7 C with light snow.
Due to the above, aircraft (A320) required de-icing and we pushed back and stopped to allow this to happen. I had a good view over the wing from my seat.
The operator appeared to do a thorough job and it took 25 mins from 1st de-icing to lining up. On looking at the wing at the hold point it "appeared" to be covered in ice.
From my previous (numerous) experiences at different airports, this seemed most odd as I have not seen the de-icing fluid appear this way on the wing.
I have 2 questions:
1) Does the type of fluid now used appear to "set" on the wing ? and if so how do you tell if its fluid against it being ice ?
2) After the incindent many years back with the Air Florida 737, it used to be a requirement after de-icing for the pilot to come back and look at the wing prior to take-off. I had experiences of pilots with torches looking out the pax window and am not sure how effective this was but it may have helped. From the front seat, how do you tell if the de-icing has been sucessful (other than time before next one needed)