Ice-protection specialist Cox is testing the ice-protection system for the horizontal stabiliser of Raytheon's Premier I business jet at its newly established LeClerc icing research laboratory in New York.
The hybrid de-icing system, now under test, combines an electro-thermal leading-edge parting strip and electro-mechanical actuators to throw off ice, and uses only 43% of the power required for pure electro-thermal de-icing.
The laboratory's icing tunnel is capable of airspeeds exceeding 175kt (320km/h) and temperatures down to -30° C allowing it to simulate the in-flight icing conditions required for certification.
Cox is also developing an ice detection system based on technology licensed from Canada's Spar Aerospace, which uses a near-infra-red video camera which also provides a permanent record.
Images are displayed in real time on a monitor, recorded digitally and computer-processed to show ice as thin as 0.25mm, "day or night, in snow, freezing rain, drizzle or fog", says Cox. The normal operating range is 2-10m (6-30ft), with a maximum of 60m. The system is being field-tested at Denver, Montreal and Toronto airports.
Source: Flight International
