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Upskill / Aircraft Maintenance / Ice and rain protection

Ice and rain protection

Icing physics, certification envelopes, thermal and pneumatic protection, probes, windshields, ground de-icing, maintenance and MEL relief under EASA and FAA rules

By Aerospace Garage Desk · In practice · 45 minutes · 24 narrated pages

What you will be able to do

  • ✓ Explain how supercooled water forms ice, how ice degrades aircraft performance and air data, and how the Appendix C and Appendix O icing envelopes and 25.1419 and 25.1420 define what an aircraft is certified for.
  • ✓ Describe bleed-air, electrothermal and pneumatic boot ice protection, ice detection, probe and windshield heating, rain removal and drain mast heating on transport aeroplanes.
  • ✓ Apply the clean aircraft concept, fluid Types I to IV, freezing point buffers and holdover time tables to a ground de-icing and anti-icing decision under 14 CFR 121.629 and CAT.OP.MPA.250.
  • ✓ Carry out and interpret ATA 30 maintenance checks and fault isolation, including heater resistance and insulation checks, anti-ice valve tests and boot damage assessment.
  • ✓ Decide whether an ice protection defect can be deferred under the MEL, taking account of rectification categories, (M) and (O) procedures and the route forecast.
  • ✓ Draw the lessons of American Eagle Flight 4184 for boot coverage, large-drop icing and certification.

Course content

Session 1 · Icing physics and certification

1.1

  1. Why ice matters · free preview
  2. The icing envelopes: Appendix C and Appendix O
  3. Detecting ice: anti-icing or de-icing
  4. Worked example: matching the weather to the certification
Session 2 · Thermal ice protection

1.2

  1. Bleed-air wing anti-ice
  2. Engine and nacelle anti-ice
  3. Electrothermal protection
  4. Worked example: isolating a wing anti-ice valve fault
Session 3 · Pneumatic boots and large drops

1.3

  1. How de-icing boots work
  2. Operating boots and propeller de-ice
  3. Large drops and the limits of boots
  4. From the investigation file: American Eagle Flight 4184, Roselawn
Session 4 · Probes, windshields, rain and drains

1.4

  1. Heated probes and sensors
  2. Windshield and window heat
  3. Rain removal and drain mast heating
  4. Worked example: checking a probe heater
Session 5 · Ground de-icing and anti-icing

1.5

  1. The clean aircraft concept
  2. De-icing and anti-icing fluids
  3. Holdover times and the checks before take-off
  4. Worked example: a holdover-time decision
Session 6 · Maintenance, troubleshooting and dispatch

1.6

  1. Scheduled maintenance and functional checks
  2. Troubleshooting and human factors
  3. Minimum equipment list relief
  4. Worked example: boot damage, repair or defer?

Who this course is for

  • De-icing coordinators applying fluid types, freezing point buffers and holdover times
  • Engineers checking probe heaters, anti-ice valves and pneumatic boots
  • Pilots and dispatchers deciding whether an ice protection defect can be deferred for the route

You need: Basic aircraft systems knowledge; some winter operations experience helps.

Upskill courses are for professional development and are not approved by any aviation authority. Learner Terms

Course content © Aerospace Garage Limited. All rights reserved.