Aero-Terms!

Aero-Terms are designed to be a daily reminder of the terms, names, acronyms and explanations of the unique language that populates the aviation world. Aerospace, sport aviation, fixed wing, helo, you name it... it's all fair game.

Aero-Terms should serve as a quick but intriguing reminder of the terms you may use every day, or an introduction to an aspects of the Aero-World you may not yet be familiar with. ANN also encourages readers to go beyond the FMI link, and further research any intriguing terms.

Suggestions for future Aero-Terms are ALWAYS welcome, as are additions or discussion of the explanations given for each Aero-Term.

Aircraft Icing

In-flight icing is the accretion of supercooled liquid water (SLW) on the airframe. This SLW can be in the form of cloud droplets or freezing rain/drizzle. Generally, cloud ice and snow do not adhere to the airframe, and graupel and small hail may actually help to remove accreted ice.

We worry about icing because it can adversely affect the flight characteristics of an aircraft. Icing can increase drag, decrease lift, and cause control problems. The added weight of the accreted ice is generally only a factor in light aircraft. The general agreement in the community is that severity is most dependent upon SLW content, temperature and droplet size...

FMI: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/~gthompsn/icing.html