Clearing ice from in front of hangar

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YooperMooney

Pre-takeoff checklist
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CapellaXS
Well I was warned and Murphy’s law played out while I was gone for five days. I recently moved from a West South facing hangar to a much large north facing hangar for $20/mo more. They warned me that the ice build up was biblical but wouldn’t be a problem as long as I kept up with it. Well of course I went south last weekend to attend some training. When I came back I now have 8-12” of an ice ridge about 4’ wide directly under where it had slide off the hangar roof. Of course I’ve been out at the hangar after every snow with my plow truck. I dealt with this similarly when I moved into the previous hangar one year ago (it was unkept all winter). I don’t have the strength and it’ll kill me if I go out there with my firewood mail and bust it up (I did a 1’ wide channel and I feel like I’m going to die). Any advice? Harbor Fright electric demolition hammer to bust out channels for the landing gear?
 
I had some luck with a pickaxe. If it's all too much I'd suggest just breaking up the thicker parts of it so that when the weather inevitably warms up it melts away quicker.
 
98277 zip code = 50 degrees :)

Street-hangar got washed yesterday .
 
Harbor Freight has a similar "flamethrower" for $25.
 
I’m in the same boat......

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I have one of those flame throwers and they’re useless for thick ice. I’m going to try a long demolition bit in my rotary hammer drill

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If you are going to go the flame route, might as well get something with a broader application. Flame Engineering still makes them and AIH hardware sells the 110 volt version, just not as Red Dragon aircraft pre-heater. It's the "49,000 BTU PREHEATER".

https://www.aih.com/storefrontCommerce/itemDetail.do?item-id=5466&item-number=FLA00064

I have the older 12 volt version and I marked the pressure gauge in green from 5 to 15 psi, yellow from 15-25 psi and red lined it at 25 psi. On anything other than a sub zero day running it above 15 psi, has the potential to start melting things under the cowl.

But when cranked up it would do a great job melting ice in front of the hangar.

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For aircraft engine pre-heat purposes, use a thermometer to adjust the output temp to something in the 150-170 degree F range. On a 20 degree F day with an engine cover, you'll need about 15-20 minutes of heat and then about 15 minutes more to let it heat soak. At -20 F it's probably going to take an hour of heat to get the oil warm and another 15-20 minutes to set and heat soak to ensure the internals are evenly/sufficiently warm.
 
A few bags of rock salt or calcium chloride, pile it on thick, give it time to work (a few hours). The latent heat for ice is ridiculous, it would take a long time for a torch and use a lot of propane. When the rock salt starts penetrating then you should be able to chip away at it. Ice sucks.
 
PaulS said:
A few bags of rock salt or calcium chloride, pile it on thick, give it time to work (a few hours). The latent heat for ice is ridiculous, it would take a long time for a torch and use a lot of propane. When the rock salt starts penetrating then you should be able to chip away at it. Ice sucks.
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But do you want that getting up in your wheels on your plane.
 
heated outdoor matt

I see heated outdoor Matts. Another option is an ice scraper, the heavy duty type.
 
Can you make a small black plastic tent and place an electric heater therein to melt the ice? Of course, one must use common sense, perhaps a few 2 x 4s supported by some cinder blocks??
 
sourdough44 said:
heated outdoor matt

I see heated outdoor Matts. Another option is an ice scraper, the heavy duty type.
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The salt or calcium chloride and an ice chopper should be effective. The key is to not try to kill it when you are chopping, let the tool do the work. I've lived in New England all my life, the one thing you learn is that clean up after a storm is real important if you don't want to deal with an issue like this. Have a friend or pay someone to do it when you are away. Mats are ok if it's not too cold out, but again, it takes a lot of heat to melt ice.
 
Hmm, salt and aircraft... just sayin
 
Sac Arrow said:
Hmm, salt and aircraft... just sayin
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And from an airport's perspective, salt, aircraft, and hangar doors. We've had to replace hangar doors that were rusted out by tenants using salt in winter. We now ban the use of salt.
 
I thought salt was banned on all airports period.
 
Food for thought...how about "rain gutter heat tape" along the tracks? My hangar doors ride on a steel "ribbon" using wheels that have a circumferential "groove" cut into them. If I could take a "heat tape" and fasten it to the side of the "ribbon" perhaps that would keep the immediate area where the wheels roll free from ice. Hmmm....
 
My hangar door is bifold. It has a 3” thick rubber tube on the base that seals the door to the pavement, so no salt gets on metal. You just use 3 fist fulls of salt - one for each tire track. There’s not enough salt water to splash onto any metal parts of the plane when you roll it out.
 
Four years of flying in New England has a lot to do with why I live in SoCal now.
 
You guys are probably right about airports and salt, but I could swear I've seen some type of ice melt, not sand, at Hanscom a few times, plus the residual on tires at preflight.
 
Eastern NC snow storms are serious business. We got this the other day. The ground was obviously warm enough that it was never going to freeze, but;
- School was let out early on Thursday about 8 hours before it even started to snow;
- School was closed the following day when this was all we had with no more coming; and
- it was gone by Saturday afternoon.

My born and raised in South Dakota self marvels at the panic level here when it comes to snow.

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Trouble with taking a pickax to ice is the real possibility of damaging the concrete/asphalt under the ice. Several years ago, we were experiencing a “polar vortex” here in NE Wisconsin and our airport was a block of ice everywhere, including the runways. It was imperative that the airport remain open (there was discussion about shutting down ops) due to local businesses, including one on defense dept contract, needing it open. It was researched and determined that the powers that be (FAA, Michigan Dept of Transportation....I know, I said NE WI... we boarder with da UP) that the use of lye, aka NaOH, was approved. Worth a try. Might melt it enough to make using an ice scraper more effective.
 
I have snow up to my armpits in my yard. I just left Menards with an SDS chisel bit and a face shield. I’ll report back.
 
Fertilizer also works as an ice melter and does less damage to metal and vegetation than salt type products. More expensive though.
 
Larry Vrooman said:
Eastern NC snow storms are serious business. We got this the other day. The ground was obviously warm enough that it was never going to freeze, but;
- School was let out early on Thursday about 8 hours before it even started to snow;
- School was closed the following day when this was all we had with no more coming; and
- it was gone by Saturday afternoon.

My born and raised in South Dakota self marvels at the panic level here when it comes to snow.
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Where in SD? I grew up in Custer, went to school in Brookings. Toughest winter I ever saw was in Brookings in 1976/77.
 
gkainz said:
Where in SD? I grew up in Custer, went to school in Brookings. Toughest winter I ever saw was in Brookings in 1976/77.
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I was raised mostly near Ft. Pierre, but spent 4 years in the Rapid City area (from 1975-79). I lived in the Lead, Deadwood and Spearfish area for about 15 years before transferring to the east coast.

I attended E-RAU in Prescott AZ, but finished my bachelors degree at SDSU in 1987.

If I recall correctly, that winter was not so much snowy as extremely cold and windy. Again if I recall correctly, we lost a lot of cattle that winter.
 
Larry Vrooman said:
I was raised mostly near Ft. Pierre, but spent 4 years in the Rapid City area (from 1975-79). I lived in the Lead, Deadwood and Spearfish area for about 15 years before transferring to the east coast.

I attended E-RAU in Prescott AZ, but finished my bachelors degree at SDSU in 1987.

If I recall correctly, that winter was not so much snowy as extremely cold and windy. Again if I recall correctly, we lost a lot of cattle that winter.
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yep -I think it was more than a month of below zero and winds ... it was a little chilly!
 
I went to the hangar, opened the door, there is about 8 inches ridge of ice, couldn’t get the door closed, called FBO to deal with that sh&t and drove back home.
 
It was 24° this morning in central TX, but 60 this afternoon. I love snow, but visiting it is WAY better than having it come here too often. Sorry you have to deal with it---I'd try a bit of salt, some heat, and a chipping tool in that order.
 
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