# Aircraft Wing De-icing Mechanisms

- Original post: https://www.twitter.com/i/status/2118561965077299408
- Source account: [@afg1911a1](https://x.com/afg1911a1)
- Source language: Japanese
- Target language: English
- Duration: 1:08
- Published: 2026-11-06
- Machine translated. Check the original before quoting.
- Canonical URL: https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms

## Transcript

[0:00](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms) Even when blasting through snow clouds at minus 15 degrees Celsius, at 800 kilometers per hour, the wings don't freeze.

[0:05](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=5) That's because hot air flows inside the cold metal.

[0:09](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=9) If ice forms on the wings, lift drops, and the risk of a crash increases.

[0:12](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=12) But you can't break the ice in flight, or keep spraying antifreeze.

[0:17](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=17) So they use heat from the jet engine. A huge fan draws in air, which is squeezed tightly by the compressor deeper inside.

[0:23](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=23) Why is it hot even before the fuel burns?

[0:26](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=26) Compression alone can heat the air to nearly 400 degrees.

[0:29](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=29) Some of this hot air is sent to the leading edge of the wing, then blown out through tiny holes in pipes inside, warming the metal from within.

[0:36](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=36) Only when needed, the front of the wing becomes a giant heater.

[0:40](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=40) But here's the problem. If you heat the wing more to evaporate the moisture, you can prevent ice, but the high temperatures damage parts.

[0:47](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=47) So a heat exchanger cools the air, and valves regulate the flow.

[0:51](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=51) The water droplets flow without freezing, and the strong wind blows them backward.

[0:54](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=54) The air that carried the heat escapes through the outlets beneath the wings.

[0:58](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=58) Next time you fly to snowy Hokkaido, please look out the window.

[1:02](https://preview.translate.mom/transcript/g05hzlUcIgpT/transcript-of-aircraft-wing-de-icing-mechanisms?t=62) The reason you can pass safely through the cold clouds is thanks to the warm air flowing inside those thin wings.