"Justin Gombos" wrote in message
news:NnF8i.1274$Uy4.1025@trndny09...
On 2007-06-03, Peter Dohm wrote:

There are really three of issues (that I can recall) he
1) A diesel will run on any hydrocarbon fuel that it can pump and
meter.
2) Different seals and hoses are compatible with different
chemicals--although it would be no surprise to find that all were
compatible
with biodiesel.
3) Certified aircraft/engines require fuels authorized in the type
certificate and/or an STC.

4) Biodiesel supposedly thickens at temperatures that pilots fly in.

Though it can be corrected with additives, I would rather have heated
wings (thus tanks) to avoid additives and gain de-icing capability for
the same feature.

Very interesting.

Has this been done before, or do de-icers only heat the leading edges
of the surface?

I am not aware of any present application of heated wings except for
transport jets--which I believe are using bleed air. However, there was
considerable development work done by NACA during the WWII period. There
was at least one report generated involving the use of exhaust gas as the
heat source, on a twin engine aircraft, and I don't recall the specifics
except that there was concern regarding a loss of heat to one wing in the
case of an engine failure. There was also some work done, which was quite
promising, regarding the use of the wings of a liquid cooled fighter; which
would have provided wing heating as a beneficial side effect. However,
whereas the project involved combat aircraft in time of war, the concept was
rejected as making the engine cooling system too easy of a target--which was
certainly true in that instance.

BTW, I believe that the NACA reports are available on the NASA web site.