Message-ID: <3665B612.11AE6214@tin.it>
Date: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 22:50:11 +0100
From: John F: Herminghaus <catignano@tin.it>
Reply-To: catignano@tin.it
To: Lancairlist <lancair.list@olsusa.com>
Subject: Boots
Mime-Version: 1.0

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During a recent visit Don Goetz told me that
Lancair was testing two de-icing systems: one
thermal (electric) and one which breaks the ice
into pieces with vibrations.  He said that one of
the systems should be released for retrofit by the
end the year.

Boots?  Ask the man who has owned them.  I have,
on a Baron.

They are expensive, high maintenance and
unreliable.  The one time I really needed them
they were frozen shut.  Through a leak or whatever
moisture had gotten inside.  During the pre-flight
they worked fine - of course, it was not freezing
on the ground.

Should one still be interested, please don't
forget that you need 18psi to inflate them and
vacuum to deflate.

Once you have them, you should learn to use them.
>From whom?  I took the Flight Safety course on the
Baron, and they were discussed a lot but there was
no practice, neither real nor simulated.  It is
easy to say you should wait until there is 1/4" to
1/2" before you pop them, but I am certain that,
like most other skills, it takes a while before
you have an acceptable level of skill.

Just for information: On the Baron (known ice), in
addition to the windshield, the stall warning and
fuel vents were heated.  Also, MT offers
prop-deice for around $2000.  It uses between
8-12amps.  They said they were using the system on
the Piper Mirage.

Flying mainly in Europe, I certainly want to go
the de-ice route, but God forbid that the only
solution is boots.

John Herminghaus
catignano@tin.it