1800 Gallons of De-icing fluid...

My A&P mechanic works a day job, in addition to doing small-plane
maintenance. He is in charge of local maintenance on DC-9s that fly
for a major freight hauler.

Our part of the world got hit with a pretty decent winter storm over
the weekend, which resulted in "his" DC-9 being coated with over 1/4"
of ice before it started to snow. In order to remove that ice before
departing, they had to spray over 1,800 gallons of deicing fluid on
that single DC-9.

And, since this isn't being done at a major airport (which would have
deicing stations to catch all that stuff), there is no recycling of
that fluid. It just goes away...all $3600+ worth of it.

Now multiply that times all the aircraft that had to fly during that
2-day storm...

If you ever wondered why it costs so much to ship a box of chocolates
cross-country, now you know...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 1/16/2007 6:36:51 PM, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

If you ever wondered why it costs so much to ship a box of chocolates
cross-country, now you know...

And all this time I thought it was the styrofoam cooler and dry ice that the
better chocolatiers use to package their product.

--
Peter

Jay Honeck wrote:
My A&P mechanic works a day job, in addition to doing small-plane
maintenance. He is in charge of local maintenance on DC-9s that fly
for a major freight hauler.

Our part of the world got hit with a pretty decent winter storm over
the weekend, which resulted in "his" DC-9 being coated with over 1/4"
of ice before it started to snow. In order to remove that ice before
departing, they had to spray over 1,800 gallons of deicing fluid on
that single DC-9.

And, since this isn't being done at a major airport (which would have
deicing stations to catch all that stuff), there is no recycling of
that fluid. It just goes away...all $3600+ worth of it.

Now multiply that times all the aircraft that had to fly during that
2-day storm...

If you ever wondered why it costs so much to ship a box of chocolates
cross-country, now you know...

;-)
--


Would it not be more economical to move the airplane in a large heated
hangar? I realize this may not be practical at major airports.

The price of $2.00 a gallon sounds low, unless he diluted it with a lot of
hot water. In 55 gallon drums I recall glycol costing around $8-9 a gallon.

Sounds like the operator of the DC-9 got a good deal.

Jay Honeck wrote: brevity snip
In order to remove that ice before
departing, they had to spray over 1,800 gallons of deicing fluid on
that single DC-9.

That sounds a tad high, as if someone wasn't exactly using their
resources very efficiently, maybe trying to blast it off with pressure.
I believe I could get it done with 1600g of warm tap water and 200g of
deicer.
-----

- gpsman

Andrew Sarangan wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:

My A&P mechanic works a day job, in addition to doing small-plane
maintenance. He is in charge of local maintenance on DC-9s that fly
for a major freight hauler.

Our part of the world got hit with a pretty decent winter storm over
the weekend, which resulted in "his" DC-9 being coated with over 1/4"
of ice before it started to snow. In order to remove that ice before
departing, they had to spray over 1,800 gallons of deicing fluid on
that single DC-9.

And, since this isn't being done at a major airport (which would have
deicing stations to catch all that stuff), there is no recycling of
that fluid. It just goes away...all $3600+ worth of it.

Now multiply that times all the aircraft that had to fly during that
2-day storm...

If you ever wondered why it costs so much to ship a box of chocolates
cross-country, now you know...

;-)
--



Would it not be more economical to move the airplane in a large heated
hangar? I realize this may not be practical at major airports.


I'd say it is ONLY possible at major airports. How many small to medium
size airports have a hangar that will accomodate even one DC-9 let alone
several?

Matt

On 1/16/2007 9:03:18 PM, "Viperdoc" wrote:

The price of $2.00 a gallon sounds low, unless he diluted it with a lot of
hot water. In 55 gallon drums I recall glycol costing around $8-9 a gallon.

That's what I paid for my last 55 gallon drum, too, but don't you suppose
these larger deicing operations get much larger quantity discounts for the
fluid?

--
Peter

Jay Honeck wrote:
My A&P mechanic works a day job, in addition to doing small-plane
maintenance. He is in charge of local maintenance on DC-9s that fly
for a major freight hauler.

Our part of the world got hit with a pretty decent winter storm over
the weekend, which resulted in "his" DC-9 being coated with over 1/4"
of ice before it started to snow. In order to remove that ice before
departing, they had to spray over 1,800 gallons of deicing fluid on
that single DC-9.

And, since this isn't being done at a major airport (which would have
deicing stations to catch all that stuff), there is no recycling of
that fluid. It just goes away...all $3600+ worth of it.

Now multiply that times all the aircraft that had to fly during that
2-day storm...

If you ever wondered why it costs so much to ship a box of chocolates
cross-country, now you know...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Yikes. I thought I read somewhere in an earlier post that they used
boiling water, then anti-icing fluid?

--
Mike

Hmmmm,,, Type 1 deice fluid costs are about 11. bucks a gallon, thats
the applied price to planes here at Jackson Hole Wy. He got off REAL
cheap if the bill was 3600 bucks. His bill here would have been
20,250.00 or more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ dollars, And,, if not recycled
thats alot of stuff going into the surrounding soil... Per Plane
!!!!!!!!!!! YUCK.
Jay Honeck wrote:
My A&P mechanic works a day job, in addition to doing small-plane
maintenance. He is in charge of local maintenance on DC-9s that fly
for a major freight hauler.

Our part of the world got hit with a pretty decent winter storm over
the weekend, which resulted in "his" DC-9 being coated with over 1/4"
of ice before it started to snow. In order to remove that ice before
departing, they had to spray over 1,800 gallons of deicing fluid on
that single DC-9.

And, since this isn't being done at a major airport (which would have
deicing stations to catch all that stuff), there is no recycling of
that fluid. It just goes away...all $3600+ worth of it.

Now multiply that times all the aircraft that had to fly during that
2-day storm...

If you ever wondered why it costs so much to ship a box of chocolates
cross-country, now you know...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

wrote)
Hmmmm,,, Type 1 deice fluid costs are about 11. bucks a gallon, thats
the applied price to planes here at Jackson Hole Wy. He got off REAL
cheap if the bill was 3600 bucks. His bill here would have been
20,250.00 or more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ dollars, And,, if not recycled
thats alot of stuff going into the surrounding soil... Per Plane
!!!!!!!!!!! YUCK.


How many planes need deicing at KJAC in a week? Any guess?

I saw a large portable deicing hangar (concept) a while back, in some
magazine. Seems like at those prices it could be a moneymaker. :-)


Montblack