Originally Posted by tubby Linton
That is not how I read 1.30.50 p1/2.There are two heating modes with Airbus,low heat on the ground and high heat when airborne for the pitots.There have been numerous incidents where this changeover has not occurred giving the crew lots of problems.I have also seen where the pitots have cooked in the sun of the Indian Ocean to a threshold above the warning causing nuisance ecam.
There isn't an auto mode on the ground [
edit, until one engine is running], only manual mode [
for test if one engine is not running]. Auto mode [
is always set] once the aircraft is airborne. Probe heating is then monitored and computed, by those three independant PHC (Probe Heat Computer). What do you think that will feed the PHCs with curent air data beside those probes themselves?
Nonetheless , if any probe icing is suspected during the flight =>
in auto anti-ice mode, you may ask for more heat (than computed) by pressing the anti-ice buton.
You'll need to refer to the "icing" part on the manual as I'm answering from memory without a single look at it.