Slippin' and a slidin', sweepin' and a glidin' here comes Adam's Dash 8
A beautiful day on approach into Windsor. I asked the Detroit air traffic controller if I could fly down the river to take a few pictures before landing. Detroit is on the far side of the river, Windsor on this side. I think this is one of the few places in Canada where the US is north of Canada.
This is a Ford transmission plant in Windsor. They are made here and then transported across the river to the Ford production plant in Dearborn, Michigan. (Suburb of Detroit)
On my last trip to Windsor, Ontario we woke up in a world of ice. A storm was passing through and covering everything with freezing rain. The airplane had been sitting on the ramp overnight and had been covered in an inch of solid, clear ice. So had all the runways and the taxiways.
Aircraft tires don't come in Blizzak or Ice-X models so we pretty much have no tread for traction. We ended up delaying for 4 hours for the airport crews to prepare the runway for our use. They don't often use sand, but will spray urea or lay down potassium acetate pellets in order to get rid of the ice. Then you just have to wait until the chemicals do their work. We need a certain CRFI (Canadian runway friction index) to take off and land. This is a magical number. Most larger airports have a special vehicle with a system onboard that gives them an idea of the friction of a runway when it is contaminated. The vehicle drives down the runway and then slams on the brakes and the system produces a number. That number is then relayed to all the aircraft arriving or departing. We use that number in a chart we have, to determine whether we can safely land or take off or...not. For example, the more crosswind we have the more restricted we are. Anyway, we had to wait in Windsor until the CRFI was at an acceptable number corresponding to the crosswind that was prevailing that morning. Got that?
I have never seen aircraft tires covered in ice like this. It took almost 45 minutes of hot de-icing fluid to melt/get rid of all the ice on the aircraft.
I gave the tire a kick to show the ice coverage.
This is a Ford transmission plant in Windsor. They are made here and then transported across the river to the Ford production plant in Dearborn, Michigan. (Suburb of Detroit)
On my last trip to Windsor, Ontario we woke up in a world of ice. A storm was passing through and covering everything with freezing rain. The airplane had been sitting on the ramp overnight and had been covered in an inch of solid, clear ice. So had all the runways and the taxiways.
Aircraft tires don't come in Blizzak or Ice-X models so we pretty much have no tread for traction. We ended up delaying for 4 hours for the airport crews to prepare the runway for our use. They don't often use sand, but will spray urea or lay down potassium acetate pellets in order to get rid of the ice. Then you just have to wait until the chemicals do their work. We need a certain CRFI (Canadian runway friction index) to take off and land. This is a magical number. Most larger airports have a special vehicle with a system onboard that gives them an idea of the friction of a runway when it is contaminated. The vehicle drives down the runway and then slams on the brakes and the system produces a number. That number is then relayed to all the aircraft arriving or departing. We use that number in a chart we have, to determine whether we can safely land or take off or...not. For example, the more crosswind we have the more restricted we are. Anyway, we had to wait in Windsor until the CRFI was at an acceptable number corresponding to the crosswind that was prevailing that morning. Got that?
I have never seen aircraft tires covered in ice like this. It took almost 45 minutes of hot de-icing fluid to melt/get rid of all the ice on the aircraft.
I gave the tire a kick to show the ice coverage.
2 Comments:
If you are so good at kicking the tires, why didn't you just light a fire to get rid of the ice? Duh...4 hour delay could have been avoided had you been thinking straight! ;)
This is amazing, I now have more respect when hearing about "ice storms". Ice is always the scary factor and now I know why. I am amazed that pilots have to know so much stuff, I thought you just started the engine, pushed that stick thing and watched the altitude creep up accordingly, then just drank double doubles til you land again.
Now I realise why you have to get that training and go back to that "stimmulaterr" now and again!! ha ha ha
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