An Integrated Approach to the Problem of Aircraft Icing

This paper is directed toward the need for a definition of the intensity of icing conditions in terms of meteorological parameters which the forecaster can predict, the manufacturer can design to, and the pilot can identify. Contradictions in present regulatory and meteorological definitions of icing conditions are discussed and a method of resolving them is suggested. A discussion of the FAR 25 icing envelopes as engineering rather than meteorological standards is presented. The question of whether a mean effective drop diameter is representative of the drop size spectrum within an icing cloud is considered. Definitions of icing intensity are suggested and a method of flight test data acquisition, allowing determination of the intensity of icing conditions encountered, is described.