With a turbo it’s fairly easy to find an altitude where there is no icing.
For cruise flight maybe. But during approach and departure you have no choice. And no turbo in the world will help you once your propeller is iced up badly. Been there, done it. Not again, thank you.
Only last week I flew a 20 NM long GPS approach procedure starting at 5000ft. +5 degrees or so on the ground, entered clouds during descent at around FL100. Though it would be enough to turn engine anti ice on (for with wing anti ice idle power would not have been enough and descending with power against the speed brakes is very unpleasant for the passegers) but after landing, the whole aircraft was covered with 2-3cm of clear ice. Took over an hour to melt, even at +5 degrees.
Since I flew my plane to Europe Ive used more TKS fluid in 2 yrs than I have in 18 yrs back in the US. I file mostly IFR and so get altitudes that are ice prone. I have a non turbo 210. I can only speak for non turboed planes but the TKS has made it a much more practical airplane. Ive thought of the statement “a turbo can fly right through the icing layer” as Im vectored through ice during an approach.
I had mine installed right after a severe icing encounter just as TKS was certified for the 210. Never regretted it. Well thats not entirely true do regret having to deal with the TKS company. They are rigid and inflexible. For instance their windshield pump is poorly designed. Do you think they would give credit to install a new one with a better design? Nnoo.
The other drawback is the cost of the fluid. With that said I would still have it then not have it.
I fly a turbo diesel powered aircraft which can climb to FL180 easily (DA40 with the 2.0s engine).
It doesn’t have any de-icing system. In the summer period (say april – oktober) this is not a real issue.
But last winter I had to cancel most of my IFR flights due to icing risk. I remember a flight through a cloud layer which was quite severe; it was like flying trough a shower of big undercooled drops, which immediately sticked on the aircraft. There was warm air below and I was able to get on top without issues, but it wasn’t a nice experience…
If you need to fly reliably in winter time, you can’t do without FIKI…
I agree with lenthamen that you will need a FIKI approved aircraft in wintertime for reliable winter flying. Flying the SR22T with FIKI I can confirm that I need the TKS system to work quite often in wintertime and that without it I would not depart.
My experience differs.
On Eurocontrol IFR flights, I get icing conditions (temps below 0C) anytime of the year, at practical levels (FL100+) and get ice on practically every such flight if there is IMC.
Obviously the 0C is higher in the summer than in the winter, but not enough to make a difference at Eurocontrol levels.
Yesterday, for example, LDLO-EGKA, it was 0C at FL100 and -8C at FL140. The tops were ~FL120…
So, anytime of the year, the name of the game is to get VMC on top, or have a seriously de-iced aircraft for doing IMC enroute (and then you face the other issues like flying into something nasty).
I find the TKS-prop-only TB20 to be fine, but full TKS would be nice for getting on top of a thick layer which is known to be nonconvective. I guess the reasons I don’t have it already are
I enquired at AERO and they still quoted 40k€ last year.
To much for a 45k airframe.
Yes, but it’s like having a 15 year old Toyota Celica in perfect condition – a great car but worth only about £300 
I had such a car, for 15 years from new
Would you scrap it if a repair comes to more than £300?
I sold it only when it did start to rust structurally.
€40k is a ripoff however, for what you get in terms of hardware. The quality of e.g. the pumps is basically junk – below the level of reasonable industrial stuff. The prop TKS pump sometimes seizes up after a few months of non-use. The company is just taking the p1ss.
In wintertime there are a lot of days where I simply can’t get VMC on top safely, because the escape route (a descent into warmer air below) is missing. It makes a lot of difference whether the 0°C level is at FL005 or at FL080 in mission capability.
My strategy is also to fly IFR in VMC on Top, and in wintertime that is the only way to do it (safely).
In summer I have no problem to fly enroute at FL070 in IMC, as long as there is no convective weather.
The ADL120 is a great help to determinate what kind of weather will be encountered enroute.
I flew back from Nancy Saturday, and there were many different cloud layers up to FL150 or so. Flying with my son I decided to not even try to get on top but to fly between layers as much as possible. Worked for a while but in FL60 (-1°) we still flew in IMC for 45 minutes. There was a only very little ice and I would not even have needed the TKS. I switched it on anyway, it didn’t run for weeks. After a minute the ice was gone.
Of course FIKI is the way to go if you undertake flights like AeroPlus does, but for pilots like me TKS is a nice thing to have.
I just looked up the DA42 and realised it is TKS, not FIKI. I hadn’t realised this. Anyone know how the DA42 TKS system performs vs a FIKI bird?
DMEarc
