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ERDC/CRREL TR-02-13
37b. Most damage occurs to windshields cracking where the F.A.T. gage
protrudes and is often hit with broom sweeping snow off. Main rotor blades are
also damaged when personnel try to break the ice on them by hitting the ice with
their hand or another object. This dents the skin of the rotor.
40. Icing and elements are best dealt with through prevention, versus
elimination. We have an extra hangar on post whose space is unavailable to
us. Keeping airframes from unnecessary exposure to the elements is the best
prevention for damage.
42. We experience icing weekly in the winter months in Korea. Our aircraft
are flown within the aircraft operation manual constraints. On occasion we must
exit icing conditions due to excessive buildup of ice, but it is not significant to
readiness. Our deice facility/equipment is sufficient for continued operations.
44. Not a significant factor in garrison where our a/c are constantly hangared.
Potential icing/snow accumulation inherent during field operations poses the
greatest problem. Is there a piece of equipment that's field transportable, safe for
the environment, and cost-effective to operate and maintain?
45. a/c which remain inside and are immediately flown upon being "pushed
outside" perform well. The deice system on the UH-60 works well and as
described in the operator's manual.
47. Very little here at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
48. We deploy to many extreme cold environments. The primary method of
deice is a warm hangar. After that we'll use deice fluid and then heat sources.
Covers are used as a preventative method, however, we don't have any that cover
the entire nose or aircraft. The in-flight icing drops our MH-6s and above mod
icing for the MH-60s. A mobile deice unit would work best.
49. I think if the 47 fleet [MH-47E] had rotor blade deice/anti-icing capa-
bilities like the UH60 fleet, it would enhance the fleet readiness. We never know
where in the world we could be called to, prior prep is the answer.
51. When the weather is bad enough to require deicing, it is usually too bad
to fly, so we don't need deicing.
53. Need portable a/c deicing equipment.
56. Our a/c are equipped with deice equipment; about 70% of these systems
are operational. I look at these systems as backups to get me out of icing trouble
if it is encountered and would not intentionally fly into known moderate icing.
My experience has been that if you leave the deice equipment turned on long
enough, something will fail.
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