The Prevention of Ice Accretion

Extract

Flying, in common with all means of transport, is affected by adverse weather conditions, but the necessity of aeroplanes to maintain flying speed introduces a major difficulty of its own. The older forms of transport are able, in the last resort, to evade their difficulties by coming to a dead stop. An aeroplane must, literally, fly in the face of its difficulties. It must fly blind in clouds and perhaps land in fog. Over and above this, flight under certain meteorological conditions introduces a danger unique to aircraft. Ice may deposit at all leading edges and grow to windward, at critical regions of the relative airflow, in shapes which increase drag and seriously decrease lift. The accumulated ice adds to the weight. Unsymmetrical ice deposits on the airscrew blades cause dangerous engine vibrations which can only be kept in check, if at all, by throttling back at the expense of thrust. Venturis and pressure head orifices become blocked with ice, rendering the instruments they serve useless. External controls may become jammed. In short, many adverse factors to prevent flight may be brought into play simultaneously by the mere fact that particular meteorological conditions have been encountered.