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You've never lived until, at FL 190 in a Seneca II somewhere way northwest
of Phoenix and around the MOA, you see a prop arc outlined in purple and the
hair on your neck stands straight out so you need to reach back and hold it
down.
The purple arc that you are referring to is called "Saint Elmo's Fire(corona discharge)". It is a more or less continuous, luminous electrical discharge of weak or moderate intensity in the atmosphere, emanating from elevated objects at the Earth's surface (lightning conductors, wind vanes, masts of ships) or from aircraft in flight (wing tips, propellers, etc.).
I don't think that St. Elmo's Fire is dangerous. I have been in it while in a snow storm over NYC in a Piper 180. The radios all stopped working. Sparks shot off the ends of our fingers directly to the front windows. The propeller glowed. When the snow was gone, so was the fire.
When do you start needing static wicks? My C340A has them. My LNC2 320 doesn't. I have flown the LNC2 now for 2.5 years and over 200 hours. I fly on instruments and in clouds. I have not yet had a problem. Other small planes, even though certified for instruments, don't have static wicks. Other big planes do.
Lorn H. Olsen, President
US MidTel, Corp., MichTel, Inc.
Pontiac, MI 48342
LML website: http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
LML Builders' Bookstore: http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair
Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
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