University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953

Thirteen lectures show the "state of the art" in 1953.

Figure 1. Modes of energy transfer for an unheated airfoil in icing conditions. 
Image from Anon., "Aircraft Ice Protection", the report of a symposium held April 28-30, 1969, by the FAA Flight Standards Service;  Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC 20590.
See Lecture No. 6, "Energy Exchanges During Icing", Messinger, Bernard L.

Summary

Thirteen lectures show the "state of the art" in 1953.

Key Points

  1. This was the best aircraft icing training and design guide available at the time.
  2. Several lectures are extracts of earlier works, or were republished later.
  3. Selected lectures are reviewed.

Abstract

Since there was no introduction in the bound book copy 1 I read (it simply starts with Lecture 1). Here is a listing of the lecture titles and authors (I could not find this seemingly basic information online).

  1. "Supercooled Clouds" Vonnegut, Bernard
  2. "The Mechanics of Suspensions", Brun, Edmond
  3. "The Trajectories of Water Drops", Tribus, Myron
  4. "Heat Transfer from Streamlined Bodies", Eckert, E. R. G.
  5. "Mass Transfer at High Velocities", Mickley, Harold S.
  6. "Energy Exchanges During Icing", Messinger, Bernard L.
  7. "The Design of Air-Heated Thermal Ice-Prevention Systems", Neel, Carr B.
  8. "Electro-Thermal De-Icing Systems Their Design and Control", Orr, J. L.
  9. "Design of Air Heated Intermittent De-Icers", Hauger, Harry H. Jr.
  10. "Mechanical De-Icing Systems", Loughborough, D. L.
  11. "The Design of Fluid Anti-Icing Systems", Smith, E. L.
  12. "Meteorological Design Requirements for Icing Protection Systems", and "Note on the Flight Testing and Assessment of Icing Protection Systems", Fraser, Don
  13. "Icing Simulation", Morrison, R. B., Nicholls, James A.

Discussion

The 13 lectures were an almost complete education on aircraft icing design, for the time period, and about as much as could be packed into a one-week course.

This constituted the best Icing Design Manual available at the time.

I can say that this was the "state of the art" in 1953, as many of the presenters were well-known at the time, several were from NACA or the National Research Council Canada, some were from industry and were actively building the systems described, and some authors (Eckert, Messinger) are still often cited.

The icing conditions are discussed to some degree in several lectures, particularly Lecture 1 and Lecture 12a. They show that icing conditions were still a matter of debate in 1953, even though as we saw in the Meteorology of Icing Clouds Thread, all the major publications that went into the later Appendix C icing regulation were available before 1953.

A precursor

"Modern Icing Technology" 2 is the output of a prior seminar on icing information. It is almost an outline or draft for the later Airplane Icing Information course.

FOREWORD
These notes are the outgrowth of a seminar on icing information given at the University of Michigan in the Fall of 1951. They are intended to be useful to the persons interested in entering the icing field who require a single source where either basic information or suitable references may be found.

This first edition was rather hurriedly put together for use in a seconds seminar in February, 1952. Corrections and suggested additions will be most welcome.

For being "rather hurriedly put together", this is an extensive resource (153 pages).

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ICING PROBLEM
II TRAJECTORIES OF WATER DROPS AROUND STREAMLINED BODIES
III REMOVING THE ICE
IV THE ENERGY TRANSFERS AT AN ICING SURFACE (Analysis of the Separate Modes of Energy Transfer)
V THE ENERGY TRANSFERS AT AN ICING SURFACE (The Complete Energy Balance and Some Applications) VI THE DESIGN OF A CONTINUOUSLY ANTI-ICED AIR-HEATED WING
VII INTERMITTENT HEATING
VIII METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS FOR DESIGN

This was the most comprehensive airplane icing education (other than reading every NACA publication on the topic) available in 1952.

Apparently, all sections were presented by Tribus.

See Design Manuals for more information.

The printed course lectures

One print copy that I borrowed through inter-library loan had all thirteen lectures in a large book, and it had no introductory material, it simply started with Lecture No. 1. (I speculate that there was some kind of introduction at the course, or at least an agenda, that is not included.)

From the front piece of Lecture No. 9 we learn that the course was March 30 to April 3, 1953 (the week before Easter [April 5, 1953], and possibly coinciding with spring break at the university?).

The compiled printing is 500+ pages. Some lectures are very information dense, so I view five days as intense, "a drink out of a fire hose".

There are also errata sheets inserted for some lectures. The errata sheets are printed differently (mimeograph rather than print), so not all print copies may have the errata.

Another copy that I borrowed was the individual lectures separately stapled and collected in a box. It had errata sheets for some lectures, but they were missing for others.

I had to borrow print copies more than once, as there is too much to really study in a three-week loan.

Both print copies that I borrowed were in good condition (they have not been used much in 70 years).

Copyright Status

The copyright status for this is ambiguous. Either print copy that I borrowed through inter-library loan is not marked as copyrighted, nor are any of the individual lectures.

However, a librarian told me (paraphrased) that while they would like to make digital copies available, they do not have signed releases from all presenters and authors, so they were not able to do so. And it is unlikely that releases could now be obtained, as it is not likely that most of the authors are still with us.

I suppose that this also means that there will not be a re-publication any time soon.

Similar publications

Some lectures are recognizably extracts from other publications, or were published later in part or in whole.

  • Lecture No. 3, Tribus: Tribus, Myron: A new method for calculating water-droplet trajectories about streamlined bodies. 1951. lib.umich.edu
  • Lecture No. 5, Mickley: the later NACA-TN-3208 is much more extensive, 153 pages [!] ntrs.nasa.gov
  • Lecture No. 6, Messinger: Messinger, B. L.: Equilibrium Temperature of an Unheated Icing Surface as a Function of Airspeed. Preprint No. 342, Presented at I.A.S. Meeting, June 27-28, 1951. review
  • Lecture No. 7, Neel: later published as NACA-TN-3130 ntrs.nasa.gov
  • Lecture No. 8, Orr: Orr, J.L., Milsum, J.H. and Rush, C.K.: “Electro-Thermal De-Icing Systems: Their Design and Control”. NRC NAE Report LR-70, March 1953
  • Lecture No. 10, Loughborough: Loughborough, D.L., Physics of mechanical removal of ice from aircraft, Aeronautical Engineering Review, v11, n2 (Feb 1952) 29-34. us.archive.org (Unfortunately, this does not include the Slide 13 "Most practical de-icers I ever saw" figure.)
  • Lecture No. 12a, Fraser: Fraser, D.: “Meteorological Design Requirements for Icing Protection Systems”. NRC DME Report LR-049, March 1953. nrc-publications.canada.ca
  • Lecture No. 12b, Fraser: Fraser, D.: “Note on the flight testing and assessment of icing protection systems”. NRC DME Report LR-050, March 1953. nrc-publications.canada.ca [Note that this has figures that are missing from print copies.]
  • Lecture No. 13, Morrison: Nicholls, James Arthur, et al. Design of an icing wind tunnel. 1952.lib.umich.edu

Lecture No. 2, "The Mechanics of Suspensions" by Edmond Brun, notes:

I believe that prior to 1940, the study of trajectories of particle suspensions had not produced many important reports. The study of airplane icing phenomena in England yielded works by G. I. Taylor and M. Glauert. Without knowing about these contributions, I started on the entire problem during the war with some assistants of mine.

Langmuir and Blodgett's work and other recent American studies, among those ones by Myron Tribus, provide an important link in the general studies of the Mechanics of Suspensions.

As Lecture No. 2 largely discusses impingement on cylinders, you can find most of the information in Langmuir and Blodgett "Mathematical Investigation of Water Droplet Trajectories" 3. review

For Lecture No. 4 by Eckert, it is a short summary of convective heat and mass transfer analysis methods. You can find far more by Eckert in his well-known "Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer" text book 4 (cited over 3000 times).

So, if you are waiting for an inter-library loan, you can read these (possibly more accessible) publications to get similar information in the meantime.

The lectures themselves are not often cited in literature, possibly because the similar publications get cited instead.

Reviews

I selected two of the shorter lectures to review:

  • Lecture No. 1, Supercooled Clouds. Review

  • Lecture No. 12b, Note on the Flight Testing and Assessment of Icing Protection Systems On Flight Testing. Review

I will also include a short discussion:

Lectures citations

  1. Vonnegut, Bernard: Supercooled Clouds. Aurthur D. Little, Inc., Lecture No. 1, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (12 pages)
  2. Brun, Edmond: The Mechanics of Suspensions. (Professor as the Sorbonne, Paris, France) Lecture No. 2, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (29 pages)
  3. Tribus, Myron: The Trajectories of Water Drops. Lecture No. 3, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (52 pages)
  4. Eckert, E. R. G.: Heat Transfer from Streamlined Bodies. Lecture No. 4, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (16 pages)
  5. Mickley, Harold S.: Mass Transfer at High Velocities. Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT, Lecture No. 5, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (31 pages) (includes errata sheet)
  6. Messinger, Bernard L.: Energy Exchanges During Icing. Department Manager, Thermodynamics, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Lecture No. 6, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (46 pages)
  7. Neel, Carr B.: The Design of Air-Heated Thermal Ice-Prevention Systems. NACA, Lecture No. 7, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (46 pages) reprinted as NACA-TN-3130, 1954
  8. Orr, J. L.: Electro-Thermal De-Icing Systems Their Design and Control. Low Temperature Laboratory, National Aeronautical Research Establishment, Ottawa, Canada, Lecture No. 8, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (68 pages) (includes errata sheet)
  9. Hauger, Harry H. Jr.: Design of Air Heated Intermittent De-Icers. Air Conditioning Design Engineer, Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc., Lecture No. 9, To be presented in a special program on Airplane Icing Information March 30 - April 3, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (56 pages)
  10. Loughborough, D. L.: Mechanical De-Icing Systems, (B. F. Goodrich Company), Lecture No. 10, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (58 pages)
  11. Smith, E. L.: The Design of Fluid Anti-Icing Systems. Engine Laboratory, National Aeronautical Research Establishment, Ottawa, Canada, Lecture No. 11, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (32 pages) (includes errata sheet)
  12. Fraser, Don: Meteorological Design Requirements for Icing Protection Systems. Low Temperature Laboratory, NAE, Ottawa, Canada, Lecture No. 12a, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (36 pages) Fraser, Don: Note on the Flight Testing and Assessment of Icing Protection Systems. Low Temperature Laboratory, NAE, Ottawa, Canada, Lecture No. 12b, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (8 pages)
  13. Morrison, R. B., Nicholls, James A.: Icing Simulation. Propulsion Laboratory, University of Michigan, Lecture No. 13, University of Michigan Airplane Icing Information Course, 1953. (13 pages)

Citations

The "Airplane Icing Information Course" is cited 7 times at scholar.google.com.

The individual lectures have not been widely cited.

For example, Messinger's "Energy Exchanges During Icing" was not found at scholar.google.com, although I have seen three or four citations elsewhere. I speculate that Messinger's other publications with similar information get cited instead.

Fraser's "Meteorological Design Requirements for Icing Protection Systems" is cited 7 times at scholar.google.com. "Note on the Flight Testing and Assessment of Icing Protection Systems" is cited 3 times.

The course material endured after the initial presentation, even if they were not cited often. At a company that I worked at I remember seeing copies of some lectures, decades later (Lecture No. 6 by Messinger most frequently).

Notes


  1. University of Michigan. College of Engineering: Airplane icing information course. Lectures presented in a special program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, March 30-April 3, 1953. U of Michigan catalog listing 

  2. Tribus, Myron: "Modern Icing Technology" 1952. lib.umich.edu 

  3. Langmuir, Irving, and Blodgett, Katherine B.: A Mathematical Investigation of Water Droplet Trajectories. Tech. Rep. No. 5418, Air Materiel Command, AAF, Feb. 19, 1946. (Contract No. W-33-038-ac-9151 with General Electric Co.) 

  4. Eckert, E. R. G., and Robert M. Drake Jr. "Analysis of heat and mass transfer." (1972). You can find at copy at archives.org 

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