Any word as to the possibility of anti-ice or de-iceing for the Cirrus?
Any word as to the possibility of anti-ice or de-iceing for the Cirrus?
I believe it is in their collection of requests for future aircraft, possibly variants of the SR20/SR22. Given the composite construction and the extremely smooth surfaces, I don’t think it is possible to add all the TKS components necessary, especially the parts for the leading edges of the wings and tailplane.
I can attest to how quickly the SR22 ices up and how much it affects airspeed. Recently, I flew through a cloud for 30 seconds. The OAT showed 0 C and I got light rime ice and lost 10 knots. And for the reader on this forum who gets emotional on this topic, let me say: I was not breaking any FAR. I wasn’t in the US, there was no forecast for ice, and I got out of it immediately (by virtue of the fact that it was a single cloud), and yes, I was on an instrument flight plan. I had a lot of warm air and clear air below me, should I have needed to melt the ice by descending.
I should also say that icing in bad conditions is
right up there with a serious in-flight fire and
a mid-air collision as the most terrifying things that could happen to me.
Robert Bedichek
Any word as to the possibility of anti-ice or de-iceing for the Cirrus?
During the Owners’ meeting with Alan Klapmeier and Ian Bentley at Oshkosh, Alan discussed this topic in very general terms. My recollection (with apologies to Alan for any misquote here), is that the company is looking at providing an electrical de-ice in the wings. The system would work by heating segments of the leading edge of the wing sequentially, so that ice is encouraged to slide off; by so doing, the electrical load (provided by a heavy-duty supplemental alternator?) would be minimized. Of course, such a system would have to built in to the wing, and so could not be a retrofit.
If I remember correctly, he also spoke of the potential of removing the heavy-duty alternator (and/or other components of the system?) during the summer, so that the weight penalty of the system could be reduced, or perhaps put an air-conditioning system in its place. I believe he said that the system was under consideration for the SR22 only.
Multiple disclaimers for possible errors here are intentional – I’m working off memory alone, and that gets less reliable as I get older.
- What’s-his-name.