Ice in fuel

[MyData]

Hi

I'm currently reading the excellent book 'The Killing Zone*' - a must read book for any PPL. Some of the articles are very informative, others highlight the incredibly poor decisions made by student pilots and those recently qualified.

There is a chapter on fuel management and one article got me thinking:

1. Does water in avgas freeze at 0C (or lower?)

2. If it does form ice, does the ice float or sink?

Based on my assumptions that ice will form, imagine the case where water has contaminated the fuel - by whatever means - and overnight it has frozen into ice in the fuel tanks.

A check for water in the tanks will draw clear fuel (assuming here that the ice has floated and so the bottom of the fuel tanks/pipes are clear of ice).

Would floating ice be easily visible during a visual check of the fuel tanks?

Following take off the temperature increases above the freezing point. The ice turns back to water and the water then leads to fuel starvation...

I'm sure this must have been discussed and documented many times in the past 100 years of flight - but I'm interested in any feedback on the importance of ice in the fuel system.

*The Killing Zone refers to the period from PPL qualification (when you are supervised) to about 350 flying hours. The majority of deaths in aviation occur in the group of pilots who are qualified to fly, but don't have the luxury of personal experience to draw on to prevent themselves getting into trouble.