PNEUMATIC ROTOR BLADE DEICING

A cooperative effort between NASA and the B.F. Goodrich Company led to development of a prototype pneumatic boot deicing system designed for use on a helicopter rotor. Feasibility tests of the system, as installed on a UH-1H helicopter, were conducted by the U.S. Army. This evaluation Included a structural loads survey, inflight performance and handling qualities tests, and icing tests at the Ottawa spray rig. While this prototype system resulted in degraded aircraft performance and minor effects on handling qualities, it demonstrated a satisfactory deicing capability in the icing spray rig.