Say goodbye to icing conditions? Test pilot needed.

stratobee

stratobee

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stratobee
I'm sure you've heard of all these new superhydrophobic coatings that are being launched. If you look at the film in the link, you'll see just how amazing this stuff is. It literally repels water and liquids. I know at least 2 companies that are marketing this stuff now.

Now, I'm assuming it will do the same to ice?

Would someone on the board be willing to do a little test? I'd do it myself, but my plane is on for engine overhaul, plus I'm not instrument rated and i live in SoCal...;) Spray this on, I dunno, 70% of the leading edge and go up for a little quick spin in a cloud above icing level and see if it sticks to the coated part?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZrjXSsfxMQ
 
We've been talking about this for a while on here. I've expressed interest, but haven't bought any.
 
stratobee said:
I'm sure you've heard of all these new superhydrophobic coatings that are being launched. If you look at the film in the link, you'll see just how amazing this stuff is. It literally repels water and liquids. I know at least 2 companies that are marketing this stuff now.

Now, I'm assuming it will do the same to ice?

Would someone on the board be willing to do a little test? I'd do it myself, but my plane is on for engine overhaul, plus I'm not instrument rated and i live in SoCal...;) Spray this on, I dunno, 70% of the leading edge and go up for a little quick spin in a cloud above icing level and see if it sticks to the coated part?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZrjXSsfxMQ
Click to expand...


Hope it's airplane friendly, think corrosion.
 
stratobee said:
I'm sure you've heard of all these new superhydrophobic coatings that are being launched. If you look at the film in the link, you'll see just how amazing this stuff is. It literally repels water and liquids. I know at least 2 companies that are marketing this stuff now.

Now, I'm assuming it will do the same to ice?

Would someone on the board be willing to do a little test? I'd do it myself, but my plane is on for engine overhaul, plus I'm not instrument rated and i live in SoCal...;) Spray this on, I dunno, 70% of the leading edge and go up for a little quick spin in a cloud above icing level and see if it sticks to the coated part?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZrjXSsfxMQ
Click to expand...
Wouldn't that legally require a FIKI plane, since it's, well, flying into known icing conditions?
 
Couldn't you do a "test flight" of some sort in your freezer?
 
DaleB said:
Wouldn't that legally require a FIKI plane, since it's, well, flying into known icing conditions?
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You can go fly in the clouds and pick up ice in a non FIKI airplane as long as there isn't reports of known icing. This certainly needs to be tested before it can even be used on an airplane. Is it corrosive? If so, is it corrosive on metals or composites, or both? How easily is it removed? How long does it stay on? Something like this would never be approved in certified applications (I say never but I highly doubt it) but this could be great for the experimental market.

If I had access to a FIKI experimental I would love to test it. But I will say this is a much smarter and safer operation for some wind tunnel testing.
 
I could not find it at my local Home Depot, but maybe later they will have it. From the video it appears that works pretty good. The fact that Rust O' leum and Home depot are distributing the product gives me confidence. From the video on the cell phone application it looks that this will not cause any damage to the surface applied to. My son is moving to Pittsburgh PA this winter so will give it at try.

José
 
The thing is even though it would never be certified, if it worked, I sure as h*ll would spray that thing on before every IFR flight, certified plane or not. Nobody is going to stand between me and the reduction of risk by avoiding death;)
 
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stratobee said:
I'd do it myself, but my plane is on for engine overhaul, plus I'm not instrument rated and i live in SoCal...;)
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You are not instrument rated and you own an Aerostar??? Or am I confusing you with someone else.
 
Given that, the best way to avoid death would be to not fly your Aerostar into IMC since you're not rated.

Does your Aerostar have boots?

I'd be interested in getting some of this stuff and doing some tests (first to ensure a lack of corrosive or otherwise deteriorating properties).
 
Just spray some Pam on your wings and call it a day.
 
stratobee said:
That's correct.
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Just chiming in as another AMEL vfr-only. =P

But I've considered this as well, and I believe there are already some companies working on testing it for use on vehicles/aircraft. You have to be careful not to get it on windows as it puts a frosted-glass appearance on it.
 
Apache123 said:
Just chiming in as another AMEL vfr-only. =P
.
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Yeah, but you have an Apache. When I first did my ME, I was VFR only. I am just surprised that someone would want a airplane as capable as an Aerostar without it...I would think that you would want the IR just to get decent insurance.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Yeah, but you have an Apache. When I first did my ME, I was VFR only. I am just surprised that someone would want a airplane as capable as an Aerostar without it...I would think that you would want the IR just to get decent insurance.
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Very true. When I bought the Apache the only insurance company that would offer insurance wanted just over $6k/yr for a low-time student pilot. This was liability only!
 
It has boots. I wanted an all weather tourer I could grow with. But it's not FIKI. For that you need the boots on the inboard wing, which you can get as an upgrade.

Well, it wasn't planned this way, haha, I just haven't finished the rating yet when the Aerostar at the right price came along..:wink2: I have a good amount of time under the hood, but the DPE I've been training with is so busy he never has time for me. But I can also honestly say between this one and my previous twin, I have gotten stuck in bad weather unable to continue exactly one time, in more than 30000nm of cross country touring. And I'm not talking sunny California touring either, I've been all over the country. Last trip was to NY and back from LA. I'll get there, just need to find an instructor and time. In fact, my old instructor is going to finish me off, she just doesn't have the 5hrs in Aerostars. So I'll have to "instruct" her in it first.

Insurance was much easier to get on the Aerostar than it was for my first twin, so they seem to value twin time more than instrument time.

But back on topic - I read that the base coat of NeverWet can act as a paint stripper. This was from a review by someone, and I've been unable to find a reference to that anywhere else. Maybe he was just exaggerating or maybe there's some truth to it? Probably best to try it on a piece of painted metal first and see if it has any longtime effects.
 
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you can do a test flight in some parts of the country where it gets below freezing -

put it on the wing - leading edge to max chord - then spray a mist from a hose onto the wing with a big fan behind you when its below freezing outside ....
 
stratobee said:
I'm sure you've heard of all these new superhydrophobic coatings that are being launched. If you look at the film in the link, you'll see just how amazing this stuff is. It literally repels water and liquids. I know at least 2 companies that are marketing this stuff now.

Now, I'm assuming it will do the same to ice?

Would someone on the board be willing to do a little test? I'd do it myself, but my plane is on for engine overhaul, plus I'm not instrument rated and i live in SoCal...;) Spray this on, I dunno, 70% of the leading edge and go up for a little quick spin in a cloud above icing level and see if it sticks to the coated part?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZrjXSsfxMQ
Click to expand...

I'm not too certain this will work, simply because icing comes in different forms, and some will erode the coating causing the ice to stick.
 
It's paint. It's not some magic corrosive fluid.

I've sprayed it on a couple different surfaces - even a plastic garbage can and it damaged nothing.

It leaves the surface with a rough texture - kind of like 220 sandpaper is the common description. Or, you could say it's like a light coat of frost ;-)

Not very durable when it comes to abrasion.

Comes off in the washing machine if you treat fabric.

But, water does indeed roll right off.
 
Here's another one that's very impressive:


Tom-D said:
I'm not too certain this will work, simply because icing comes in different forms, and some will erode the coating causing the ice to stick.
Click to expand...

Some aircraft component manufacturers have apparently looked into using these on transport jets, and that's exactly the problem. When you fly though a cloud, you're hitting little itty bitty water droplets. The friction from those droplets will cause the coating to come off after some amount of time--apparently not very much time, at that. I've heard that when you fly in rain too much you risk ruining the paint on your leading edges, and if the paint will come off the leading edge, you can bet this coating will too.
 
stratobee said:
Would someone on the board be willing to do a little test? I'd do it myself, but my plane is on for engine overhaul, plus I'm not instrument rated and i live in SoCal...;) Spray this on, I dunno, 70% of the leading edge and go up for a little quick spin in a cloud above icing level and see if it sticks to the coated part?
Click to expand...
You provide the FIKI-certified airplane and I'll be happy to fly the test. Otherwise, no, I'm not intentionally flying a non-FIKI airplane into icing conditions no matter what you spray on the wing -- I value my license (and my life) too much for that. But I'll bet you can get Henning to do it.
 
Inverted said:
You can go fly in the clouds and pick up ice in a non FIKI airplane as long as there isn't reports of known icing.
Click to expand...
That is not true. The regulation says "known icing conditions," not "known icing." You cannot legally fly a non-FIKI airplane into conditions where you can reasonably expect to pick up icing ("known icing conditions") just because no reports of icing have actually been filed (which would then make it "known icing," not just "known icing conditions"). See the Bell letter for details, including the difference between those two terms.
 
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Ron Levy said:
That is not true. The regulation says "known icing conditions," not "known icing." You cannot legally fly a non-FIKI airplane into conditions where you can reasonably expect to pick up icing ("known icing conditions") just because no reports of icing have actually been filed (which would then make it "known icing," not just "known icing conditions"). See the Bell letter for details, including the difference between those two terms.
Click to expand...

It's interesting that the Bell letter differentiates between "known icing" and "known icing conditions." My Cessna manuals refer to "known icing conditions," but my Piper manuals do not. The latter just say "non icing."
 
comanchepilot said:
you can do a test flight in some parts of the country where it gets below freezing -

put it on the wing - leading edge to max chord - then spray a mist from a hose onto the wing with a big fan behind you when its below freezing outside ....
Click to expand...

Better would be to borrow a car with a metal airfoil on the back, rig windshield sprayers ahead of the airfoil and only put the treatment on one side of it. Drive down the highway while you shoot video of the airfoil.
 
After the hydrophobe equipped GA aircraft survives the trip behind the C130 sprayboom at 18,000 feet, I'll think about that stuff....but not until then....
 
JasonM said:
I found this stuff interesting but after watching these reviews, I don't think this stuff is very durable and looks very rough. My guess is this stuff would definitely effect airflow performance negatively.

Review video: http://youtu.be/uyCoPG9ByOw
Click to expand...

I don't see how it would help in this case. And, the roughness would be a real problem - as was demonstrated.

Another: http://youtu.be/VPQYewEamNg
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Not impressed with the video.

It is not as durable as a typical paint, but it has held up reasonably well where I have used it.

It's good for what it's good for. But I wouldn't expect it to work that well as an anti-icing coating on an aircraft due to the roughness and lack of general abrasion resistance.
 
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