Steve wrote:Forgive my stupidity, but how are you going to tell if it works? In >12 years I have seen ice exactly once (1/4" strip for 5 minutes on the leading edge) on my wing. Since the aircraft is not certified for KI, we avoid those conditions. I don't think anyone on this board is going to seek out icing conditions to test it (product on one wing, bare on the other - see which one gets more ice...).
Steve
Your stupidity is forgiven Steve. Tis the season.
I don't seek out ice, however, I have run into it a whole lot more often than you apparently have and I would say a little more severe than you have described. It shows up in the darndest places and I'm not about to give up six months worth of flying.That being said, if I can eliminate or reduce severity by applying a product that has merit I will.
You're right, we are not fiki but we do have heated pitot tubes. They're there for a reason. I like to prepare for the unexpected and place the odds in my favor if encountered. That's what this product would do for me if it meets my requirements.
So far I have applied it on a painted fiberglass panel (6"X60") with five bands of two inch painters tape separating the surface into six inch by eight inch rectangles. The product was applied in strict accordance with manufactures recommendations. The following is what I have observed.
1.) The spray pattern from six to eight inches away from the surface is approx. 2" to 2 1/2" wide.
2.) I initially tried to apply step one using two to three passes. Big mistake. The step one product runs very easily.
3.) I then reduced the passes down to two passes and still experienced running but not as severe. Still not acceptable.
4.) Still using two passes with the passes being quicker were a continued improvement but in my opinion was still to heavy.
5.) I finally got down to one quick pass, waited for the product to surface dry, applied another quick pass, waited for it to dry and then applied another quick pass. That appeared to be the trick.
6.) After the completion of step one final application I waited approx. 30 minutes before applying step two. Step two is totally different than step one in that is does not run at all and dries fairly quick.
7.) I applied multiple passes of step two product in one application, waited a few minutes for it to dry and then applied another application of step two with multiple passes. I experienced no running issues with step two application.
8.) I left the tape in place and after about an hour removed a couple of bands of tape only to experience the Neverwet adhering to the tape and pulling away from the painted surface. The application was not fully dry and is not fully cured for twelve hours. I'll pull the rest of the tape away tomorrow and see what happens. Not really a big deal at this point, however, the edges were not crisp and sharp.
9.) The final product does take on a milky translucent appearance and looks to be about (and I'm guessing) 2-3 mils thick.
10.) The final dried product appears to be almost self leveling. The runs of the initial application disappeared.
11.) The texture of the final dried product is that of 200 or 300 grit sand paper.
12.) The real kicker is when I applied water to it. The stuff is incredible. The water will bead up on the untreated painted surface, however, it totally runs off the treated surface and not a bead of water will adhere. It's one thing to see it on u tube. It's quite another to see in person.
13.) The application is not simple and I can see it being quite time consuming given the amount of prep and protection that would have to take place. Also, the fumes are killer. I have never smelled anything so strong.
The little testing that I did gave me a mild headache and I was in a fairly well ventilated area.
14.) The real test will come tomorrow when I try to remove it. If it removes easily and as I hope, I will proceed with putting it on my plane and go from there.
I gotta go my wife is calling me to take the dog for a walk.
I will follow up.
. I am not interested in adding anything that will slow it down even more. Further, since my plane is FIKI certified, I don't want to add anything they may (in the eyes of the FAA) invalidate the certification.
