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Posted

I have ice accumulation on the wings in south Florida on the ground and the lowest temperature in the last 24 hours was 12C. The airframe was flown in to the airport yesterday. Coming from experience, you would never see ice form at that temperature. Yes, it can remain on the wing up to 10C if it was previously formed, but I've never seen it form on top of the wing unless it was "close" to the freezing point. Cold air can sink and cause surface frost while the air above remains above freezing, but again, it at least has to be close to the freezing point for that to happen.

Posted

Are they perhaps modeling the effects of cold soaked fuel and wing icing?  I would not put it past them given the level of detail here.  

Cold soaked wing fuel can cause icing on the wing surfaces exposed to the fuel tank at temperatures up to +10C.   This has caused accidents, the most famous being the SAS MD 80 back in the 80's.   If the wing surface temperature is near freezing due to cold soaked fuel, and the temp/dewpoint are close (I've seen guidance of 3 degree spread) then yes it is possible to get ice on top of the wing surface up to about +10C.  

Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, richjb said:

Are they perhaps modeling the effects of cold soaked fuel and wing icing?  I would not put it past them given the level of detail here.  

Cold soaked wing fuel can cause icing on the wing surfaces exposed to the fuel tank at temperatures up to +10C.   This has caused accidents, the most famous being the SAS MD 80 back in the 80's.   If the wing surface temperature is near freezing due to cold soaked fuel, and the temp/dewpoint are close (I've seen guidance of 3 degree spread) then yes it is possible to get ice on top of the wing surface up to about +10C.  

Cold soaked fuel icing is usually found (not always) on the underside of a wing. Even if they were simulating that, the fuel wouldn't have been cold soaked as the temperature on the ground never went below 12C and the aircraft had been on the ground for an extended period of time, so high altitude cold soaked fuel wouldn't have caused it either. Another aspect that I'm not sure could be simulated is how solar radiation can, fairly quickly, melt away frost via surface heating or cause sublimation, even below freezing.

Edited by boctal
Posted
26 minutes ago, boctal said:

Cold soaked fuel icing is usually found (not always) on the underside of a wing. Even if they were simulating that, the fuel wouldn't have been cold soaked as the temperature on the ground never went below 12C and the aircraft had been on the ground for an extended period of time, so high altitude cold soaked fuel wouldn't have caused it either. Another aspect that I'm not sure could be simulated is how solar radiation can, fairly quickly, melt away frost via surface heating or cause sublimation, even below freezing.

True, usually on the bottom, but can form on the top which is why the MD80s had heater blankets installed after the SAS accident.  Our CL300/350 requires us to check for cold soaked fuel ice on top of the wing in certain conditions.   However, you're correct that it's not likely in the conditions you describe.   

This add-on has amazed me with their level of detail, so nothing right now surprises me.  Delights me...yes!  

Rich Boll

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