De-icer

Killbox

Killbox

New Member
Not sure where to post this, so please move if necessary.

Any suggestions for general aviation (C-172) de-icer that is safe and legal. Frost delays need to be minimized these days.

Thanks in advance.
 
As an Embry Riddle student I had a job de-icing aircraft. We had a pretty good setup using a riding lawn-mower sized tractor and trailer to spray heated isopropyl alcohol. Maybe a tad overkill for our size operation, but it was efficient and we cleared aircraft quickly.
 
I decided an airplane with a bottle of windex and three rolls of paper towels once...true story.
 
I had a student try to de ice a DA-20 with water during is preflight on a really cold day. I had to bring the plane in the hangar and let it thaw out for a while. I asked him what he was thinking, "well it was warm water"
 
flyboywbl said:
I had a student try to de ice a DA-20 with water during is preflight on a really cold day. I had to bring the plane in the hangar and let it thaw out for a while. I asked him what he was thinking, "well it was warm water"
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Works if the temp is above freezing and the frost just isn't melting quick enough.

Otherwise, I think some sort of alcohol is pretty standard. At my school in TX, we had one of those bug sprayer things full of deuce fluid for frosty mornings. Pump it up, spray it on, works good.
 
Good
I decided an airplane with a bottle of windex and three rolls of paper towels once
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Better
At my school in TX, we had one of those bug sprayer things full of isopropyl alcohol for frosty mornings. Pump it up, spray it on, works good.
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Best
Throw a sheet over the wings during the night. Remove before flight. No frost. Problem solved.
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jhugz said:
I decided an airplane with a bottle of windex and three rolls of paper towels once...true story.
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I was just gonna post "I know a guy who deiced a Cirrus with Windex. Pull the chute!"

Beat me to it!
 
Best defrost I ever did involved getting stuck with a frosted up plane at an airport with no FBO. A weed sprayer, some antifreeze, some shop rags, and some redneck engineering saved the day.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
 
pwttogfk said:
Best defrost I ever did involved getting stuck with a frosted up plane at an airport with no FBO. A weed sprayer, some antifreeze, some shop rags, and some redneck engineering saved the day.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
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Was that at JMS? Because I had to do that there sans the shop rags.

Pee also works good ;)
 
Roger said:
Works if the temp is above freezing and the frost just isn't melting quick enough.

Otherwise, I think some sort of alcohol is pretty standard. At my school in TX, we had one of those bug sprayer things full of deuce fluid for frosty mornings. Pump it up, spray it on, works good.
Click to expand...

False. It was a modified canister from a fountain drink machine with the hose from a bug sprayer.:)
 
I'm in the process of crafting wing covers right now. They will either be awesome and I will have saved $700 over the cost of commercial covers, or they will come out looking like the typical Alaskan homestead - wrapped in tattered tarps, tyvek, and duct tape.... we'll see.

If it's not feasible to hangar, wing covers are the tool of choice here in the north and they keep many planes flying during the frosty/snowy months.
 
flyboywbl said:
I had a student try to de ice a DA-20 with water during is preflight on a really cold day. I had to bring the plane in the hangar and let it thaw out for a while. I asked him what he was thinking, "well it was warm water"
Click to expand...
I have seen people do this to cars in the Pacific Northwest and end up with a cracked windscreen.
 
JordanD said:
Oh that's nasty.
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Haha, autocorrect FTL.
tiredcfi said:
False. It was a modified canister from a fountain drink machine with the hose from a bug sprayer.:)
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Ah that's right, I do remember it being metal. I was getting it confused with a brake bleeding apparatus I tried once that was made from a bug sprayer, filled with 5606.

pwttogfk said:
Nope, DYT. It was after hours, and although the airport manager lived on the field he'd had a few too many rum and cokes to be helpful.
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I <3 Podunk airports.
 
Killbox said:
Not sure where to post this, so please move if necessary.

Any suggestions for general aviation (C-172) de-icer that is safe and legal. Frost delays need to be minimized these days.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Scrape with a Credit Card?
 
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