NZFF

NG , your right - the two that look the part other two the 300 310 series would equals , they seemed to much up the 320 - 380 class

Dash 8 Captain. Well done mate! The prop ice protector on the fuse is painted regularly so they look white like the rest of the Aircraft. They are made of fibreglass and are rebuilt as part of a C Check. otherwise the guys patch them up during nightly checks. Did you know that there is more icing in Summer than in Winter. I did not know that until a pilot told me at work the other day. We get a few comments from passengers as they board about the paint missing off the aircraft and we explain that is a protective layer and designed to chip as it does.

Cheers,
Nick.

More ice in summer than winter depends on the way you look at it. The freezing level (the altitude at which the ambiant air temperature reaches zero) will be lower during the winter, so if you enter visible moisture (cloud essentially) at or above this level ice is likely. As the weather gets warmer, generally the freezing level rises. For us lowly souls who are confined below the flight levels due to a lack of pressurization / oxygen, this causes issues. If you need to go somewhere at 7000ft because the route MSA is 6000ft and the freezing level is 6000ft and you will be in cloud its going to be a fun ride. But for those that do have pressurization (everything in the air nz fleet) can climb quickly above it where it will hopefully be either clear skies or too cold for ice to form. However as Link148 has stated ice can be greater (more sever in certain places is probably more accurate) in summer in some cases. Summer brings with it more regular and larger buildups of cumulonimbus (CB cloud) essentially a thunderstorm, amongst other things these can bring with them sever icing and as they can stretch well into the flight levels it can be hard even for regional turboprops to get above (especially the Q which is limited to FL200 in most cases). For from Air NZ's point of view they would encounter more ice during summer, those that are limited to slogging it out in IMC right on the freezing level, winter brings its challenges.

The 1900 is particularly bad for the ice making a hell of a noise as it comes off the prop and hits the size of the fuselage when encountering the above conditions, although it is also quite noticeable on the Q300.