LeSving wrote:
The laminar flow comments are ignorant, and only made to make the fight more “spectacular”. Icing is no worse in a Lancair than in a more traditional aircraft.
Sorry, but the most ignorant comment is yours :
Have you aver picked up ice in a strutted Cessna 182 for example ?
How ’bout a Cirrus or a Lancair / Columbia /TTx ?
Me thinks you have based your comment on 0 experience.
Believe someone that has EXPERIENCE with both situations: The Cessna will take a load wilst the “modern” wings will NOT.
AnthonyQ wrote:
Not just more prone to collecting ice more quickly but the deleterious effects of the (same thickness of) ice on say a Mooney wing vs a TB20 wing are more pronounced I believe
Where do you have this info from? Any reference? There are lots of different ice also.
Regarding the Lancair, the point is: NASA specifically designed a “laminar” airfoil that works perfectly good when 100% of the foil is turbulent. This foil is used on the Lancair, and has proven to work just fine.
LeSving wrote:
This foil is used on the Lancair, and has proven to work just fine.
“Just fine” when iced up ?
Believe me, the Lancair (et. al high performance profiles) wings’ performance takes a serious hit with ice accretion . Not so with the more traditional profile on the strutted Cessnas, for example.
LeSving wrote:
Regarding the Lancair, the point is: NASA specifically designed a “laminar” airfoil that works perfectly good when 100% of the foil is turbulent. This foil is used on the Lancair, and has proven to work just fine.
Well… “Works just fine” in the sense that the lift isn’t affected so that the aircraft doesn’t drop out of the sky. All well and good. But drag is affected and that in itself can be a major safety risk unless the aircraft has loads of surplus power. But I maybe a Lancair does?
Ice accretion is faster and more sinister on a sharp leading edge. You can see that anytime on say the TB20 which has a “sharp” elevator leading edge. That rapidly accumulates the classic “horn” shape
when the wing leading edge gets a more even accretion
I have had both above at the same time (above are not my pics) though obviously one tries to avoid those situations in the first place.
If you have loads of spare power and a de-iced prop then you can power your way out of it, with the Vs increased from say 90kt+ (clean, for the Lancair) to say 130kt, and go somewhere with a 3000m runway. Maybe even the stuff will thaw off in the descent, which is the usual Plan B for icing. But if the stuff doesn’t thaw and your fuel is only good to get to say a 800m runway then you will kill yourself because you will go off the far end of it at quite some speed, and usually it will catch fire…
LeSving wrote:
I meant the effect of icing. Why should a spiky object be more prone to icing than a less spiky object?
Because icing is caused when supercooled droplets strike the leading edge and freeze. The greater the radius, the more likely the droplets are carried around the wing in the airflow rather than strike it and freeze.
The excellent Aeroplus-PPL/IR event in Teuge this weekend covered that in great detail.
Thanks for that Peter, I particulalry appreciated what next ’s icing experience.
( LeSving: I suggest you read REAL LIFE events before posting )
Airborne_Again wrote:
Well… “Works just fine” in the sense that the lift isn’t affected so that the aircraft doesn’t drop out of the sky. All well and good. But drag is affected and that in itself can be a major safety risk unless the aircraft has loads of surplus power. But I maybe a Lancair does?
And that is different from any other aircraft exactly how?
Michael wrote:
Thanks for that Peter, I particulalry appreciated what next ’s icing experience.( LeSving: I suggest you read REAL LIFE events before posting )
I fly VFR in weather some of you don’t even believe. I have been accusedof lying telling about it. Showers of snow and sleet, freezing rain. I have never had any icing though, not that I know of.
Showers of snow and sleet, freezing rain. I have never had any icing though, not that I know of.
Not freezing rain then. You would know about it within seconds.
I have had freezing rain just once but was in -1C or so and descended very very fast (off Bournemouth, over the sea, and to hell with the CAS I was in at the time, but ATC were happy) so almost nothing accumulated.
I have never had freezing rain in VMC but obviously it is possible in the same way; just less likely. If it was anywhere near common, most GA pilots would be dead.
