85% Ethylene Glycol
10% Water
5% Isopropyl Alcohol
would that be a little cheaper?
Sssssttt, Norbert! 
Seriously: I’ve had my TKS fluid brewed by a chemical laboratory for the last ten years, but the last time, the price per litre (even though I took 120 litres) had become quite steep.
At the same time, Aircraftspruce Europe now sell the stuff at 5 €/l incl. VAT, which makes it 6€/l incl. shipment. Still expensive, but not that much more than brewing my own (unless I find a new shop for that…)
I hear that TKS is vastly more effective than rubber boots. The drawbacks are the mess, and the need for a hangar where a drum of the stuff can be kept. Plus the cost of actually using the system.
I’m buying it from Aircraftspruce and I find price acceptable. Efficiency wize I’ve had few opportunities to see it at work and I’m happy with performance. OTOH I know few cases where boots were not so efficient.
What aircraft are still being built with boots? PA46, PA34… else?
Nearly all the big (non-jet) stuff uses boots. But even the Phenom 100 jet has boots, painted silver so it looks like a heated leading edge.
Fair enough, though. I never liked the looks of black boots on aircraft painted essentially in white. Ruins the appearance a bit and makes the plane look “utilitarian”…
What aircraft are still being built with boots? PA46, PA34… else?
All twin turboprops that I know, from KingAir to Airliner (Do228, ATR, Dash 8). From the small jets the Eclipse (if they will ever build them again), the Citation Mustang, the Phenom 100 as already mentioned, the tailplanes of the Citation Excel (maybe also the Sovereign?).
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with deice boots. I only hear complaints from people who have TKS systems. The worst complaints came from our former hangar neighbors who had two Hawker 800s. They had to replace the whole leading edges on one of their planes after they flew through a swarm of insects.
The FIKI system in the SR22T works like a charm. Don’t have any complaints about it at all. Handles the ice so far quite well.
Can anyone recommend any company in Europe which has experience of installing this system on a TB20?
It is not necessary for them to be a CAV dealer, but that’s another story…
