Originally Posted by
TURIN
Light a/c not my field but I would just like to know how you chaps heat your B & Q sprayed de-icing fluid?
The Winter operations training I do every year clearly state that it is the "HEAT" in the fluid that removes the ice, the fluid then remains unfrozen due to it's chemical properties providing the holdover time etc.
Just askin' as some of the comments above (to my non-light aircraft experience) are just plain scary.
Turin,
We are removing a little bit of frost on a -2 kind of day , not trying to get a 747 clear of a 6 inch snow covering in Munich. The chemicals substantially reduce the freezing point of water (after all that is how TKS deice works!) so the frost melts even if you have not heated the backpack. The liquid has a reasonable hold over so it doesn't refreeze. However, I take a towel round the aircraft to mop up all the now liquid frost. Clearly a bit impractical on a 747 (unless you have a lot of hostiees!)
IO,
The stuff I get from the airport is a two part mix (which they do for me), I am 99% sure it is the Shell product and I have used less than 5 litres in a year.