Pros and cons of de-icing systems for a VFR pilot looking at IFR later

Peter wrote:

If you are legally VFR, you cannot get structural icing. That happens only below 0C and in IMC.

You most certainly can. The aircraft can ice up quickly if you are in a cold zone below a warmer front due to super cooled rain, even in perfectly good VFR condition.

It’s more or less precise, +/- 2°C, I think.

Thanks for the information. Of COURSE Radar is a nice thing to have, but for the class of airplane we are discussing here (newer SEP) it is irrelevant. The Sat. systems will be enough for almost all missions, IMHO.

Flyer59 wrote:

-15 °C actually,

It really is just a matter of probability. Just like someone counts with 0 on the other end and someone else with +5. If you want to be a bit more conservative, count with -25. If I remember correctly, AOPA had a document that stated high risk of icing in stratiform clouds down to -15 °C. And medium risk to a bit under -20 °C. Low was to -30 °C. It was of course worse for cumulus clouds.

Except the PA-46 there IS no SEP with radar. Satellite weather will be ok for most flights

IIRC some version of 210 had a factory option for a weather radar. And some high wing Cessnas had it retrofitted (I remember even 182 with a radar). That doesn’t change my opinion that a radar is a good thing when you intend to spent time in a soup.

PS: Do you know how precise is your OAT reading?

-15 °C actually,

NOT TRUE

Also let’s remember to not get ahead of “ourselves” here, in this thread. The sort of planes that have radar belong into another thread: “hard IFR aircraft”. By all means start a thread on how to do really hard IFR. I won’t be posting on it because I don’t do it.

Once you reach -20, -25 °C, you shouldn’t get more ice

-15 °C actually,

Except the PA-46 there IS no SEP with radar. Satellite weather will be ok for most flights

Flyer59 wrote:

20 l between 150 and 200 Euros

You can definitely get it cheaper (roughly 6 € per liter for anything from 5 to 200 liters).

BeechBaby wrote:

A FIKI bird would not have made that trip any other way either.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Deicing can handle moderate, but not severe, by definition (from FAA; they are funny since moderate for an airliner might not be moderate for me and vice versa). TKS is, however, at a disadvantage because it works only for a limited amount of time. Once you reach -20, -25 °C, you shouldn’t get more ice (you can, of course, but it’s abnormal). This is where turbo would come in handy. And if you’re planning on flying in the soup, radar wouldn’t hurt. I’m not saying departing into something like this is the best idea, but I’m sure there are plenty of people who would do it (and did, otherwise how would you know there is moderate to severe icing?).

PS: And don’t forget that in that article “non-FIKI” was still TKS equipped.

I have fixed the title

Now it is a feature, not a bug.

It’s just that the title is misleading, tinfoil. By definition a VR pilot will never need a de-icing system (Of course you explained what you mean, but the title itself is a contradiction)