Kevin Horton
Well Known Member
I'm looking for pass/fail criteria for a pitot leak. I've spent four hours today chasing a small pitot leak, and am starting to wonder whether maybe it is good enough as-is. It leaks a bit less than a knot a minute at 220 kt. I will eventually want to track this leak down and fix it, but maybe I can defer it until after I get flying.
I've searched the web, and can't find any authoritative info on acceptable pitot system leaks. It looks like it is up to each aircraft manufacturer to define pass/fail criteria. The one reference I found was in a service bulletin for a Robinson R-22 helicopter - they allow a leak of 10 kt a minute at 70 kt. Mine is much, much smaller than that.
Does anyone know what Cessna, Piper, Beech etc allow as an acceptable pitot leak?
I've searched the web, and can't find any authoritative info on acceptable pitot system leaks. It looks like it is up to each aircraft manufacturer to define pass/fail criteria. The one reference I found was in a service bulletin for a Robinson R-22 helicopter - they allow a leak of 10 kt a minute at 70 kt. Mine is much, much smaller than that.
Does anyone know what Cessna, Piper, Beech etc allow as an acceptable pitot leak?