I thought that TKS was the best way to wash the leading edges !
@boscomantico – I think you land your SR on grass. Any experience on this ?
So Peter, will having this system alter how you fly vis-a-vis enroute IMC?
Enroute IMC, probably not much difference because I can outclimb most stratus cloud but cannot outclimb convective cloud and one doesn’t want to be in convective cloud without radar etc.
TKS is for shorter term ice exposure. The typical scenario is base 2000ft, tops 10000ft (estimated from the IR image) and with a surface temp of say +10 I can expect icing from 5000ft to 10000ft, which will bring down any light GA plane – unless they get lucky and there is only little water there. The escape route (descent) exists in this case but that’s no way to plan a flight.
of course I do.
In fact, maybe I’m being thick, but I fail to see the issue with TKS and grass runway operations… have been doing so for 13 years.
I think this came up before 
There is grass and there is grass. And then there is grass
If you happen to use your plane as a lawnmower, I would say good luck with getting the green crap off the TKS panels. OTOH it might just come off simply by turning the system on, on max flow, on the ground. I am not going to test it
Wow, thank you – really – for reminding me about that 4 year old post. After reading it again, I have to say (sorry!) that I think it was great, and very balanced. I would write exactly the same thing today!
Still beats me (and apparently PCV, too) what grass (and longish grass) has to do with TKS systems. Are you possibly saying that if the grass is long and the prop tips “cut” some of it, then you will get some of the grass cuts onto the wing TKS panels, which will then eventually get plugged? Sorry in advance if I got that wrong.
If yes, I think that’s just being overly anal with “stuff”. Much as I like treating my Cirrus well (if you saw it, you wouldn’t believe it is 13 years old and has been to some of the rougher grass and gravel strips all across Europe) I think it’s still just an aircraft and is therefore bound to degrade with use.
Are you possibly saying that if the grass is long and the prop tips “cut” some of it, then you will get some of the grass cuts onto the wing TKS panels, which will then eventually get plugged? Sorry in advance if I got that wrong.
Yes, exactly. I wrote
One thing which occurred to me is that with the full TKS system one has to avoid going to grass runways on which the grass is tall enough to reach the propeller. On a TB20 this would be 15-20cm. Admittedly that is a “runway” in an atrocious condition but I have been to quite a few like that in the UK (it’s the standard “farm strip scene” after a bit of rain and a bit of sunshine) and I would never do it again because all the leading edges get covered in extremely sticky fine grass cuttings which are difficult to remove. I reckon there is potential for bunging up the tiny holes.
There is no obvious way to clear the tiny holes if they get plugged. You can’t drill them out and I doubt you can poke fine wire into them. They are only just visible under a 40x microscope. The stuff which comes off the prop is very fine – it’s like a sticky green sludge.
Whether they would get plugged by finely cut grass, I don’t know, but I don’t want to find out sooner than necessary
you wouldn’t believe it is 13 years old and has been to some of the rougher grass and gravel strips all across Europe
I have no issue with that. Personally I prefer to reduce my exposure to potholes and other hazards that come with grass tall enough to cover up hazards. My view above was specific to grass tall enough to reach the prop arc. It cost me £200 to get the plane cleaned off last time I did that (Heywood Farm, SW UK).
I am selling the propeller TKS components under Classifieds.
This gets around the stupid design of the TKS refill arrangement
In fact had it been legally easy to do, I would have never installed that refill door. It involves a lot of work, needs a re-spray of a large section to make it good afterwards, and it lets water into the rear hull cavity where it creates corrosion and destroys the directional gyro which is right underneath it. Accordingly, I have to put some clear tape over the joint…
The prop TKS parts are for sale – down to £1500 now
The original fluid container and pump have been sold. It took a while to establish this but it turned out it is a dual 12/24V unit. The control box is still for sale and that is 24V only.
