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TKS Porous Panels are NOT stall strips.


Skywarrior

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I keep seeing people refer to TKS porous panels as 'Stall Strips'.

 

They are NOT stall strips.

 

They are deicing fluid delivery devices.

 

A stall strip is that short piece of angled aluminum bonded to the leading edge of each wing, on most airplanes, that helps balance the stall characteristics of the wings.

 

Sorry, it just bugs me that people who should know better seem not to...

 

 

Chuck M.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_protection_system

A weeping wing system, also known as a TKS (Tecalemit-Kilfrost-Sheepbridge Stokes) [1] system, uses a liquid based on ethylene glycol to coat the surface and prevent ice from accumulating. The leading edges of the wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizer are made of porous, laser-drilled titanium panels, through which the fluid is pumped during flight in icing conditions. A "slinger ring" may be used to distribute fluid on propellers, and a spray bar can be used to apply fluid to the windshield. This system is commonly used on small-to-medium-sized propeller-driven aircraft, and a number of business jet aircraft. It also has some applications in military use.

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Problem is that the TKS porous panel that is on the leading edge is, errrrm, porous, and the system pumps glycol through it.  Getting something to stick to glycol is rather difficult, so the stall strips that are stuck on the panel at installation time have a nasty habit of coming unstuck.  Where it gets expensive is that the stall strip for a FIKI system (not sure about the 'No Hazard' option) is not any more the length of triangular section aluminium strip, it is crafted from pieces of the same porous (ie micro-drilled) titanium and costs arms and legs.  When some owners talk of their stall strips coming off, they are indicating this problem, not that the whole panel is falling off the leading edge.

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I needed my arms and legs, so I simply sacrificed my children's college fund to replace the one's I've lost. Somewhere in Northern Saskatchewan, some future archaeologist will discover an angular shaped length of micro-drilled titanium, and wonder about its significance.

 

Problem is that the TKS porous panel that is on the leading edge is, errrrm, porous, and the system pumps glycol through it.  Getting something to stick to glycol is rather difficult, so the stall strips that are stuck on the panel at installation time have a nasty habit of coming unstuck.  Where it gets expensive is that the stall strip for a FIKI system (not sure about the 'No Hazard' option) is not any more the length of triangular section aluminium strip, it is crafted from pieces of the same porous (ie micro-drilled) titanium and costs arms and legs.  When some owners talk of their stall strips coming off, they are indicating this problem, not that the whole panel is falling off the leading edge.

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Problem is that the TKS porous panel that is on the leading edge is, errrrm, porous, and the system pumps glycol through it.  Getting something to stick to glycol is rather difficult, so the stall strips that are stuck on the panel at installation time have a nasty habit of coming unstuck.  Where it gets expensive is that the stall strip for a FIKI system (not sure about the 'No Hazard' option) is not any more the length of triangular section aluminium strip, it is crafted from pieces of the same porous (ie micro-drilled) titanium and costs arms and legs.  When some owners talk of their stall strips coming off, they are indicating this problem, not that the whole panel is falling off the leading edge.

 

Interesting... my installation is non-FIKI, so I could not understand what people were talking about when they referred to laser-drilled, titanium stall strips on their TKS panels. Since my plane is non-FIKI TKS, it has plain old angled aluminum stall strips stuck onto the TKS panels.

 

I learned something!

 

 

"I feel weefweshed!"

          - Lily von Schtupp, Blazing Saddles

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I was going to say skywarrior ,you sound like Emily Latella on the old sat night live show...you know the cranky gal who constantly spouted off on stuff she had misheard....A classic is "whats all this I hear about eagle rights"when the other anchor women ,played by Jane Curtain tells her what a boob she is and its Civil rights...etc...than saw that since your stall strips arent TKS protected you figured none were...well I learned something..I assumed all Tks systems had those laser drilled titanium stall strips just like my fiki system did...so that is another difference..besides not having the dual pump installation.Does your system have prop deice and spray bar for windshield?By the way...I have noticed that in actual icing conditions....it is stall strip that ices up first....

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  • 4 months later...
  • 1 year later...

I had a debate with Jeff of CAV at Aero Friedrichshafen earlier this year. As someone mentioned elsewhere, the old way to bond the strips on was with a glue that dried green and hard (no, not snot!) The modern method is grey coloured and when set is more pliable (more like bathroom sealer), and is meant to have a better longevity for keeping the strips attached.  When I had my missing one replaced, I got them to re-mount the existing strips that had the old glue on them - time will tell how successful this is, but I have my fingers crossed

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