04.01.06 'Special' Edition: The FAA has just announced an unusual AD in advance of the public release of a new product line whose existence was only recently leaked to the Aero-News Network. The AD targets the AS&T "SlickWings" system, a modification of the TKS anti/de-ice system that has been retrofitted to allow the use of a solvent/detergent solution to clean an airplane in-flight.

The problem centers around the SlickWings simple operating protocols that involve a single switch that turns the system on and off... After a recent FAA test flight, the FAA Check Pilot who had flown a SlickWings-equipped aircraft just prior to the awarding of an upgraded STC for the system, forgot to shut the system down. This test flight was conducted with a special new cleaning solution that also produced extra suds and bubbles in order to offer some additional excitement for airshow and aerobatic performances. 

After the system had been left on for several hours, the battery was not only run down to the point where it required an APU to get the airplane started again, but the bubbles ultimately filled the hangar to the rafters with thick suds (as shown below). Little damage was done to the aircraft in the hangar, but a line-person was injured when he walked into an aircraft's leading edge (enveloped in the suds) and knocked himself out cold.

The AD will direct all future operations to be limited to in-flight use only, though AS&T has indicated that forthcoming versions of the SlickWings System will delete the need for such an AD since they will have a timer built into the system to limit unattended and uninterrupted operation to fifteen minutes without direct pilot intervention.

FMI: www.faa.gov