As a pilot in command you have plenty of work and procedures to follow while preparing for take off. Weight and balance, slot time, start up procedures, weather conditions, alternate airports .....! And each year winter weather adds to that workload by requiring you to become a meteorologist and judge precipitation type and intensity in order to select the most appropriate de-/anti-icing operation and get your aircraft safely off the ground.

You have to rely solely on visibility, your experience and training in on order to pick the correct cell in the Hold Over Time (HOT) table and you have to know the meaning of the HOT range; when to use the high number and when to use the low number in the cell, so that you can decide whether de-icing of the aircraft will be sufficient or you have to apply anti-icing as well.

The accuracy of using visibility as criteria for determination
of precipitation intensity is questioned by meteorologists
- in daylight conditions. At night the task of judging precipitation type and intensity is even harder!

Carrying out a visual inspection of the wings from inside
the aircraft to see if the de-icing fluid has failed and contamination is building up on the wing is also
a difficult-to-assess job.  

Your number one priority is safety, so you may opt for a two-step operation to be on the safe side, but even so you may also have had experiences of the thickened anti-icing fluids drying out in aerodynamically quiet areas on the aircraft requiring inspection and/or removal of residual fluid, increase of stick force during flight etc. And there is of course the time and cost issue, extra fuel burn, passengers already being late for their next connection while having the deicers spray the aircraft a second time.

This is where you will benefit from getting the most accurate available to support your de-icing decisions.

DAN-ICE Detection and Information System (DIIS) provides you with updated HOT information every 15 minutes or less*. The HOT information is based on actual measurements of precipitation type, intensity and ambient temperature.
The very same parameters you have to asess
to use the HOT tables.

On top of that DIIS will calculate a single HOT value based on the characteristics pertaining to the particular type and brand of fluid used by your de-icing provider - and transmit it to the flight deck through ACARS or other electronical means.
So your tables can stay in your flight bag, and you can concentrate on making the right decisions and depart
within your HOT frame.

*With 2 units you will receive updated HOT every 7.5 minutes.

 

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