Thermawings

[ChristianGodin]

What do you thing of Thermawing de-ice system. Goods: Light, cheap purchase price and installation compare to TKS, no need to buy liquid. What are the bad side? No STC for Mooney. What else.

[DS1980]

The Bad (No STC) outweighs all goods. Some folks on here have acquired STCs. Ask them about their cost, even for something less complicated than the Thermawing.

 

You may find it absurd, which it is.

[KSMooniac]

What kind of amperage does it need?  I'm not sure any Mooney has enough capacity to run one, but I haven't looked into it in detail yet.

[MB65E]

Needs another 70A system just for the system itself! But the system works really well. It's believe its certified on other light pistons. I Looked into it heavily on an Evolution a few years ago.

-Matt

[orionflt]

look back in previous threads, we had a discussion on thremawing last year

 

http://mooneyspace.com/topic/6002-thermawing-on-a-mooney/?hl=thermawing

 

Brian

[M20F-1968]

At one point there was a problem with its installation on the Columbia.  I do not remember exactly.

It requires its own 70A alternator.  It should be able to be installed on an individual airplane with DER approval as long as there is pre-existing data (in the form of STC's for other certified aircraft or installation on other certified aircraft) which there is.  A DER should be able to review and approve based on the prior existing certifications.  There are no real "alterations" of the airframe.  applying to the leading edg may be an issue, but it has also been done before in laminar flow wings (Columbia).

 

John Breda

[smccray]

Is it even possible to add a second alternator to the IO360 in a J model?

[KSMooniac]

It should be soon, with some caveats... B&C makes a nice accessory pad-mounted backup alternator, but it is on the small side (maybe 30 amps?).  That means you'd have to remove your vacuum system and go all-electric with appropriate battery backups on the panel.  I eventually plan to get there.  Last year at OSH B&C thought they would get an STC "soon" for such applications.  I can't see why it would need an STC, but I don't make the rules.

[FBCK]

I believe the problem with the columbia was it melted the ice only to have it reform at the back of the wing over the flaps and alerions making things a real mess.  If I remember correctly there where order not to be used.