A320 wing root icing

[Dualcouple]

Another thread left me wondering - as everyone flying the A320 series knows, the root of the wing over landing gear is susceptible to icing after flying in cold air during wintertime. This often leads to deicing due to clean wing concept.

I’ve heard a rumour that Airbus offers certification to takeoff with limited contamination on this particular spot on wing as an option. Does anyone know if this is indeed the case?

[Denti]

I know Boeing has that for the 737NG within the big black lines on the wing. Never heard about it on the bus.

[Chris Scott]

As Dualcouple says, on the A320 the problem occurs on turn-rounds in dry conditions of cold humidity. The mass of structure associated with the main L/G mounting points - sometimes referred to as the Bermuda triangle - retains its chill from the previous sector and conducts it to the adjacent skin on the top surface of the wing, causing frost to form. Back in the last century, at some of our outstations, the station engineer had a portable de-icing kit to remove the frost in the small area.affected.- unless the wings needed de-icing anyway.