Freezing rain: What do the airline pilots do?

SLC and frost, who would have thunk it?

Frost can be polished smooth, but a gallon or two of alcohol
spray does a good job on light aircraft as long as there is
no precip falling and the sun is out. Airports stock
alcohol for windshield and prop deicing on aircraft. Don't
use the stuff they sell at the auto stores for car
windshields, it will probably damage the plastic windows on
your plane.

The best cure,aside from a trip to Florida, is a heated
hanger. Roll the plane in under the IR heaters, and
pre-flight while the frost disappears. Cold weather
pre-flights are often rushed and incomplete because of the
cold.

If you have to do it outside in -20 wind-chill, dress
properly, hypothermia can make the take-off dangerous since
your mind won't be work at 100%.




"gpsman" wrote in message
oups.com...

Jim Macklin wrote: brevity snip

Before take-off, airlines spray boiling hot water on the
airplane (180° or so) to remove the snow and ice, then
they
switch to a heated mixture of water and anti-freeze to
keep
any ice from accumulating on the airplane during the time
it
takes to taxi and take-off. As rain/snow fall on the
plane
and melt, the antifreeze solution become diluted and the
water will begin to freeze in hinges and such.

Light frost on the aircraft prompted our pilot in SLC to
de-ice.
One plane ahead of us: total delay ~45 minutes.

http://i16.tinypic.com/4gr9p8n.jpg
http://i10.tinypic.com/2rcu9sh.jpg
-----

- gpsman