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
.
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