Bless you heedem, for your precision is music to my ears. The ice requires hundreds of g's of acceleration to stay on the blade as it turns. Disbonded, it simply stops turning, and travels tangentially away from the aircraft. Who says pprune is not a learning experience!
The ice in the Maritimes is legendary, and Cougar is certainly one of the most experienced helo ice flying orgs on earth, perhaps right up there with the Russian Army. My friend Rick Burt has tales to tell!
I spent several days hovering a non-deiced S-76A in front of the Ottawa Spray rig, and it was a blast. Tossed off chunks from the blades that were about 1.5 inch square cross section and a foot long. Hover torque went from 65% to 95% due to the increased blade drag from the ice. Hover controllability and engine behavior were always fine. Vibes were, at times, eye watering.
The ice rate meters have several different technologies. One type has a thin post that hangs in the breeze and collects ice. As it does, its natural frequency shifts due to the mass change, and the base mount measures this shift. It is periodically heated to clear it to start the measurement cycle again. Another type uses optical pickups to see the ice on the post as it thickens, and reports that. They all read out in the cockpit, with a scale that (according to test pilot legend) starts off at "Uh-Oh!" and ends at "OH, SH*T!!"