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Old December 24th 07, 05:28 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
F. Baum
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Default frost on the wing

On Dec 24, 9:28*am, Jose wrote:
Which got me thinking - maybe the FAA isn't so crazy after all. *If frost can form while the plane is *just sitting there, why could it not form while the plane is flying? *(yeah, there's some frictional heating, but we could lower the temp a bit more, no?) *And if frost isn't such a good thing to have on takeoff, it's probably not so good in flight either.

Any thoughts? *Have you seen this before?

Jose


What happens is that the wing and fuel get super cooled in flight at
extremely low temps. If the wings and fuel are cold soaked enough any
moisture contacting the wing may form frozen contamination. This
forms on the upper surfaces after landing especially if you have alot
of fuel remaining. Certain times of the year you will see this alot on
the bottom surfaces of the wing where the fuel tanks are.
F Baum