Propeller Ice causing damage to the fuselage

[hkavasch]

Our DA42 is currently in for scheduled maintence. The shop called me today and mentioned several smaller damages on the noose section caused by ice from the propeller.. They said that it is most likely caused by pilots, that switch TKS on to late...

Any experiences or lessons learnt out there?

[GLDAS]

Hans,
There are two types of nose protection available - the clear film, and the sacrificial composite plate.
The plate is surely better for protecting the nose cone, though they can get fairly ugly. If you have the film only, you might consider installing the plate.

A customer's airplane had a clogged nozzle on one side, and that was letting ice build on the one blade. The big chunks of ice were able to penetrate the plate.

Best use of TKS is early. It is a false economy to wait until ice appears to turn it on, as the system is not designed to push the ice off the surface from the rear. five or 10 minutes of wetting the wings before getting into icing will dramatically improve performance.
-dan

[carym]

I had damage to ice shield as well from a bad icing encounter. I was able to appliance paint to the damage, and then sanded it smooth. Unless you look very closely, you can't tell there was any nicks in the paint.

[RC7]

We had a guy who waited too long to turn on the TKS and it resulted in damage on one of the plates. Remember, the TKS system is designed to PREVENT ice, not remove it.

[robert63]

Besides of damaging the fuselage it may also damage the prop itself.