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- Oct 14, 2017
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First off sorry for the crappy quality picture, by the time I thought about taking a picture, and digging my phone out, most of the frost had already sublimated. But at least you can get an idea of what I'm talking about for those of you that don't fly in the extreme cold when I mention a plane "frosting up" in flight. This was from the other day when the surface temp was about -35F, but 40 degrees warmer just a couple thousand feet up.
At first the whole plane just turns white, not really all that noticeable flying an old white airplane in the flat winter light, but as it starts to sublimate it becomes more obvious. Where the airflow has separated from the surface and the frost remains it appears dull and still a little fuzzy. Other areas such as the leading edge and behind the landing light where the flange and screws act like a VG, the frost comes off first. Interesting how the flush rivet heads in the area between the tanks results in a pattern resembling scratches.
Seems counterintuitive frost could form on a surface traveling 150kts, but it does. 5-10 minutes later the airframe was back to being completely clean.
At first the whole plane just turns white, not really all that noticeable flying an old white airplane in the flat winter light, but as it starts to sublimate it becomes more obvious. Where the airflow has separated from the surface and the frost remains it appears dull and still a little fuzzy. Other areas such as the leading edge and behind the landing light where the flange and screws act like a VG, the frost comes off first. Interesting how the flush rivet heads in the area between the tanks results in a pattern resembling scratches.
Seems counterintuitive frost could form on a surface traveling 150kts, but it does. 5-10 minutes later the airframe was back to being completely clean.
