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.
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.
