Wing Shape And Ice

I’m a South Florida lady, and so is my fine flying machine. It’s relatively fat wing, tapered tips, relatively thin horizontal and vertical tail surfaces and elevator with “horns” are made of .032 aircraft-grade aluminum coated with paint (and not even that much paint). And even though I’m at a balmy 30 degrees North latitude, a momentary jaunt through the middle of a building cumulous cloud at the right altitude and outside temperature can easily coat my aircraft in a shiny glazing of thick, clear ice.

Amy Laboda

Friday, August 23, 2013 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Aircraft icing, including seemingly minor accumulations or specific types like Supercooled Liquid Droplets (SLD), poses an extremely dangerous and unpredictable threat, often leading to severe emergencies and historical fatalities.
Ice significantly degrades an aircraft's aerodynamic performance, altering lift, drag, and pitching moment. Airfoil design plays a key role, with more front-loaded wings being more susceptible to performance degradation, and ice can cause dangerous, un-signaled stalls.
Despite decades of research and advanced de-icing/anti-icing technologies, these systems are primarily intended for escaping icing conditions, not for prolonged flight within them. Therefore, the safest and most critical strategy for pilots is to avoid icing altogether.

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The aerodynamic results of accumulating even a thin coat of ice, whether clear, rime or mixed, can be a bona fide emergency, depending on the airplane’s design characteristics. Among the choices designers make when planning a new aircraft are the wing’s size, shape and airfoil. As a rule, a thicker airfoil will carry more ice than a thin one, all things being equal. “All things” are seldom equal, however, and how an airplane reacts to ice can vary from flight to flight. Here’s why.