X-Mozilla-Keys:                                                                                 
Bill Freeman wrote:

Gary C. Buster LPT wrote:

I obviously have an overactive imagination if I am thinking about this
stuff and not focused on my work at hand...

In the concept of thinking outside of the box, I wonder if the coolant
has ever been routed along the wing's leading edge to assist with a
"hot de-icing boot" concept for the leading edge.  This might also
give lots of surface area to radiate and lots of additional fluid to
work with.

It also gives more weight, heats the wing on even the hottest of days,
boils the fuel in the tanks, puts too much pressure head on the pump
to move around, etc...

What are the other pros and cons... has this ever been done
before... am I reinventing the wheel here???


Gary C. Buster LPT
gbuster@ballistic.com
Tyler, Texas

Peter Garrison did some work on this in Flying mag and he said it
was not worth it. The P38 also had intercoolers in the wing
skins. They later did away with them.

I think we had a long discussion on this about a year ago
so it is on the ACRE NL CD.

Surface radiators (actually convectors) were widely used on A/C
in the 1920s up thru the late 30s on racing planes like the
Seagate(?) Trophy (IIRC, the seaplane races that Mitchell won
with the Spit predecessor), etc.  Too complex, fragile and expensive.
While some of the WW II rad installations were atrocious, some
were better, with the Mustang being one of the best.  The possiblilty
of melting ice might still work, but I also question the qty of heat
available if icing is more than just a touch.  1000 BTUs to melt
1 lb of ice, and it can accrete at MANY lbs per minute.

Bill

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