CAV Systems Ltd

CAV Systems Ltd is an aircraft ice protection and drag reduction company headquartered in Consett, County Durham, in the north east of England. Formed in 1942 as TKS Ltd, it designs and manufactures the TKS fluid-based ice protection system, laser perforated titanium surfaces for hybrid laminar flow control, and SLD ice protection, serving general aviation, commercial aerospace and defence customers. The company has a North American operation at New Century Air Center (KIXD) in Kansas, which houses an FAA repair station and its design engineering and certification work.

Products and services

• TKS ice protection systems for OEM factory fit and retrofit, for inadvertent icing and Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI)
• TKS 406B ice protection fluid, sold through the company's online store
• Overhaul, spares and repair, including TKS metering pump overhaul
• Ice protection design and analysis consulting for aircraft manufacturers
• Micro perforation (µLASE) of titanium for drag reduction and ice protection panels
• TKS training programmes for service centres, fleet operators, installation centres, FBOs, owners and operators

The TKS system disperses a freezing point depressant fluid from laser-drilled titanium panels on the leading edges of wings, struts, stabilisers and fixed landing gear, with a slinger ring for the propeller and a spraybar for the windshield. The company says the system is certified for installation on more than 100 aircraft model variants and that more than 8,000 TKS fitted aircraft are in service. FIKI systems have two metering pumps for redundancy and two windshield pumps.

Cirrus

CAV supplies TKS Flight Into Known Icing ice protection for the Cirrus SR22 as factory equipment. The company's OEM page lists the SR22 among the aircraft in production with TKS, alongside the Kodiak 100 and 900, Diamond DA50 and DA62, Cessna Caravan, Mooney M20 and Tecnam P2012. Retrofit TKS systems are fitted by TKS installation centres in the US and Europe; the contact page lists Lincoln Park Aviation (New Jersey), J.A. Air Center (Illinois), Skyservice (Oregon), Yingling Aviation (Kansas), Porta Air Service and Ascend Aviation Group (Germany).

Approvals

• AS9100 Rev D certification
• CAA Part 21 and Part 145 approvals
• FAA repair station (Kansas facility)
• FAA PMA holder
• Boeing Performance Excellence Award

History

TKS Ltd was formed in 1942 by Tecalemit, Kilfrost and Sheepbridge Stokes for the UK Ministry of War to tackle icing on RAF bombers. The system was later fitted to the Vickers Viking, de Havilland 125 and other European types. Work with NASA and McDonnell Douglas on hybrid laminar flow control began in 1978 and led to laser perforated titanium panels, which are now applied to the tail fin of the Boeing 787. CAV moved to Consett in 1994, became an independent business backed by Baird Capital in 2017 and joined Loar Group Inc. in September 2023.

Contact

Description from the company's website (October 2026). Not a Cirrus Aircraft authorized service center. Is this your company? Claim this page to add photos and keep your details up to date.