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Posted for "nkanagy" <nkanagy@cox.net>:
John Barrett said:
What about a pitot heat auto switch that is programmed to turn off above 34
degrees, say and come on at about 33 degrees? I always wondered why one
wouldn't do this.
You would really want it to come on at least +5 C and below, maybe even
higher. You can run into snow or cold rain and would want a good cushion. I
personally would not rely on such a switch, but would want to manually turn it
on.
The FAA (at least the ICT FSDO) has lately responded to these kind of
accidents with a recommendation that pitot heat be on continuously for all
flights. In other words, when you take the runway, you turn it on. When you
clear the runway you turn it off. We use this procedure for all our turbine
planes. In the smaller airplanes we operate we strongly recommend turning it
on if you even *think* there could *possibly* be a *chance* of icing, and
always at +5C and below. Why would you want to "save" it for later? What would
you gain by having it on when you really dont need it?
Nathan Kanagy
C52A, CE-500, LR-JET, ATP CFII MEI & lurking dreamer on the LML.
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