Pilots operating aircraft into known icing conditions must always guard against an encounter with super-cooled large water droplets (SLD), blotches of water that exist in a liquid state until they strike something solid, such as an airframe, and turn to ice. SLDs were virtually unknown until they were blamed for the 1994 crash of an ATR72 southeast of Chicago. Pilots today consider SLDs to be the worst creators of airframe icing.
Ice Protection System Guards Against Super-Cooled Water Droplets
Key Takeaways:
- Super-cooled large water droplets (SLD) are identified as a critical and dangerous form of airframe icing that aircraft must guard against, leading to new FAA certification regulations.
- CAV Ice Protection introduced SLD Guard, an anti-ice system designed to meet these new FAA regulations, enabling aircraft to safely exit severe freezing rain and drizzle conditions.
- The SLD Guard system works by dispensing an ethylene glycol-based fluid from thousands of tiny laser-drilled holes in thin titanium strips installed on wing surfaces, functioning as both a de-ice and anti-ice solution.
- This system is adaptable, capable of being retrofitted into existing ice protection systems or incorporated into new aircraft designs.
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