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 (SLDs) are a significant and dangerous form of aircraft icing, now subject to new FAA certification regulations.
- CAV Ice Protection has developed SLD Guard, an anti-ice system designed to enable aircraft to safely navigate severe freezing rain and drizzle conditions.
- SLD Guard functions by dispensing an ethylene glycol-based fluid from thin titanium strips installed on wing and horizontal stabilizer surfaces, preserving natural laminar flow.
- This system is adaptable, capable of being retrofitted into existing ice protection systems or incorporated into new aircraft designs.
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