Quote:
Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
I got quite surprised when I figured out that some older cropdusters were having the carburettor heat removed and, despite the possibility of using some alcohol-based de-icing fluid and the success of dedicated-ethanol variants of the Embraer Ipanema, no other provision to overcome carburettor icing is fitted to them. BTW have you ever experienced a situation when you effectively had to rely on a carburettor de-icing or anti-icing method?
|
Yep, a number of times but not all of them when you would expect...
Once when I encountered some supercooled clouds where ice built up and blocked the air intake. Another time was on a warmish, humid day when approaching to land but before the pre-landing checklist was performed. I was running lowish RPM and about 30% power when it started to stumble. Turned on carb heat and all was good.
Normal test of carb heat is to run the engine up to 2000RPM and turn on carb heat. You should get a sustained drop of at least 100RPM for 10 seconds.
Simon