Icing conditions

[Dragon1-1]

I wouldn't be surprised if they all had it. If it's simulated on the A-10, then it's quite possible it was there from the start.

[kablamoman]

As @=475FG= Dawger already mentioned, a lot of you seem to have an unrealistically inflated idea of how impactful airframe icing would be to the majority of the aircraft simulated in the game. For almost all of the fighter jets and at the speeds they travel, the ram air temperature rise alone (in addition to the other factors Dawger mentioned) render the concern pretty moot.

I do differ from his opinion that more work in the area wouldn't be worthwhile, though. I would welcome improvements to the atmosphere simulation, as it's currently quite lacking and should be a core part of any flying sim. Realistic winds, sheer layers, convective forces, moisture content and ultimately clouds and precip are all features of different air masses and how they interact. If we get a more realistic weather depiction in the sim -- maybe more likely now with multithreading being added to the engine -- one hopes it would open the door to things like wind and turbulence being affected by terrain, inversion layers affecting visibility, clouds affecting missile seekers and AI instead of just being cosmetic, and yes, maybe even some carb or airframe icing to contend with in our subsonic pistons (if we chose to bomb around in cloud at the mid-levels).

Maybe it's a bit of a pipe dream given the glacial rate of progress at addressing long standing bugs and missing features, but I would certainly much prefer a more robust weather simulation over a new module or map DLC. Better weather would benefit the entire sim as a whole.

As it stands now, the canned pitot-static icing effect you sometimes experience in many of the modules (in severe clear air) would be better left out of the sim entirely. And if you do that, by extension you might as well not even bother modeling the heating switches or their component systems to being with. 

Edited March 9, 2024 by kablamoman

[algherghezghez]

I find icing to be already way overdone (for example the hornet give you the engine ice warning in clear air ). It’s not really a factor in high performance jets as already said, many of them don’t even have anti icing or deicing aside from pitot heating and canopy heating.

I’m also an IRL pilot and as already said by others you will find icing either in staying for long periods in low strato clouds or in thunderstorms. Icing conditions are usually defined in having visible moisture between +10 tat and -40 sat. And flying at 400+ knots makes this band very narrow.

Edited September 14, 2023 by algherghezghez

[Bremspropeller]

The Herc will have to battle icing to a different degree than fast jets.

[ThePops]

Slightly diverging subject. Is wet/icy/cold/slippery runways modelled in DCS? If so, is it a DSC feature, or is it per aircraft like icing on the airframe? Or perhaps per runway?

[razo+r]

12 minutes ago, ThePops said:

Slightly diverging subject. Is wet/icy/cold/slippery runways modelled in DCS? If so, is it a DSC feature, or is it per aircraft like icing on the airframe? Or perhaps per runway?

Not modeled.

Icing on airframe is module dependant. Most only have pitot icing, and like 2 only have icing on canopy/airframe.

[Grodin]

Let's start with adjustable winds before going all crazy with the features heh

 

[Weta43]

On 2/3/2022 at 3:23 AM, Dragon1-1 said:

One word: helicopters. As in, the other major part of DCS. While not exactly low performance the way GA aircraft are, when loaded up they need every bit of power they can get, and they don't usually fly very high. Locking a helo out of particular altitude band can be painful for tactical reasons, and while cold air in general is good for them, deicers can take away some engine power, another thing you don't want in, say, a fully loaded Hind. 

Also, there is a form of icing at high altitude, called ice crystal icing. It's not something a GA (or a helo) pilot would encounter very often, and it's not "airframe icing" because crystals don't stick, but it can damage an engine. That's mostly what I was referring to.

It is modelled for all the helicopters, and as far as I know all the E.D. aircraft in general, just not visually (or WRT to added weight either I think).

As mentioned above, if the Sim thinks icing conditions exist, it will start to apply 'ice' to your systems until they fail or you turn on the anti-ice.

[rcjonessnp175]

rotor blade icing on ka50 will cause the rotor blades to fail aka hit each other, and or cause dramatic rpm slow down....  Guess its good to be the grand father module in some terms...

[pabletesoy]

Ice in the cabin on the surfaces will help provide temperature feedback.