Transport: Wiper

First part of an airplane to ice up in heavy weather is its windshield. It usually becomes opaque as a bathroom window long before wings and propeller begin to take on ice. Standard flying-field crack to pilots complaining about this phenomenon is “Get yourself a windshield wiper.” Last week this ironic wheeze became reasonable advice.

Announced by Air Associates, Inc., for pilots who want more than a peek at the ground out of an open side window before landing in rain or ice, was a windshield wiper which is designed to: 1) keep ice off the glass, and 2) scrub it dry in the heaviest rainstorm. Trick of the device is a rubber, motor-driven blade, pivoted on an axle through the windshield. It revolves so fast (2,500 r.p.m.) that it does not obstruct vision, scrubs glass many times faster than a slow-moving automobile wiper. To help it rub away ice, a melting mixture of glycerin and alcohol is fed through holes in the blade to the outer surface of the windshield. Retail cost, installed in a Douglas DC-3: $185.