BRITAIN AND DE-ICERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 55, 2 September 1937, Page 9

BRITAIN AND DE-ICERS

The dangers of -ice formation on the wings of aircraft have caused considerable concern- recently, and the problem, besides receiving prominent notice in the Press, has been ventilated in the House of Commons. Members of Parliament were given food, for thought bj the recent announcement in the House that only, eight of Britain's 150 civil aircraft are fitted with apparatus to combat ice formation. Four Lockheed Electra aircraft fitted with this safety device are now operated daily by British Airways, who '.recently acquired five of this type for service on their Paris and Scandinavian routes. The de-icing equipment fitted to the Electras de.v>ats ice-forming conditions which, particularly during winter months, have dislocated Continental \ services operated by British, air transport companies. The "de-icers" consist of a rubber coating over the leading edges of the wings, through which pulsating air is blown often enough to crack the ice as it forms, leaving it free to be blown off by the slip stream.