The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Flight into Known Icing (FIKI) certification for the Eclipse 500. Eclipse conducted its first test flight with an artificial ice shape in August of 2007. Since that time, more than 300 flight hours on three test aircraft have been recorded, including more than 60 hours conducted in natural icing conditions in many locations in the United States and Canada. With this certification, the Eclipse 500 can now operate in conditions in which ice is known to be present.
Eclipse also performed extensive tests with the Eclipse 500 in normal operation and ice protection system failure conditions in icing tunnels and with artificial ice shapes to simulate ice build up attached to the aircraft's airfoils. The de-icing system on the Eclipse 500 includes pneumatic de-ice boots on the wings and horizontal stabilizer leading edges, electrically heated windshield and air data probes, and bleed air heated anti-ice engine inlets.
"This certification process is one of the most difficult things to put a new model of aircraft through," said Vern Raburn, president and CEO. "We've worked through this process for some time, flying the Eclipse 500 in the precise natural icing conditions that the FAA requires. We tested the aircraft in some of the most severe weather conditions we could find, wherever we could find it. By receiving the FAA certification, we proved that the aircraft can withstand known icing conditions in a real-world operating environment with no structural changes required of the airframe.”

Ice Research Provides Glimpse at Predicting Hazardous Cloud Formations
The certification comes just as Rowan University research is testing ways to detect icing conditions that should be avoided. The Rowan team has been focusing on ice clouds and crystals, developing an ice cloud chamber and measuring its change in polarization, according to the university’s research and grants web site. Previously, there was no way to determine which clouds are hazardous.
“The team re-created ice clouds in an ice cloud chamber on a small scale, successfully forming ice crystals with the same characteristics of those in nature,” said the web site. “Using these lab-created crystals, they can project a laser beam through the chamber, measuring its change in polarization, which is dependent on the size, shape and distribution of ice crystals in the cloud. The polarization state of light is invisible to the naked eye, but measurable using sensitive lenses and photo-detectors. Eventually, this process could enable a pilot to use low-power lasers to detect the crystals in time to allow the plane to avoid the crystal-bearing clouds.”
A 20-year-old junior studying mechanical engineering, Todd Nilson, explained the significance of the research. "No one has previously done what we are doing in terms of this lab scale and the ability to vary as many elements," said Nilsen.
During the course of two semesters, the team constructed an insulated Plexiglas unit — the ice cloud chamber — to house the ice crystals created from liquid nitrogen and water chilled to -40 degrees Celsius. The entire system is computer-controlled. A microscope attached to the unit allowed the team to magnify the 40-micron crystals, which are roughly as wide as a human hair, and then take pictures.
After producing the ice cloud in the chamber, a laser beam was directed into the unit. The light that bounced back from the ice crystals, called backscattered light, passed into a detector. The data collected from this process can be used to determine which clouds contain ice crystals detrimental to airplane flight.
“Thus far, the team has successfully re-created the ice crystals that have characteristics that are needed for further research,” said the team. “This is a significant step toward providing a method to detect the specific crystals in the path of aircrafts. The ability to re-create ice crystals that have the same characteristics as those found in nature, on such a small scale, enables further research by other companies with little financial burden.”
The team's research is sponsored by a $5,000 grant from R.L. Associates, Inc., a research and development company specializing in optical technology located in Chester, Pa.