Do I need to install a heated pitot?

Our RV-9A does not have pitot heat. Do I need to install one? After all, it is not required for IFR flight, correct? Just required for flight into known icing, and we are not doing that...

In the years of flying my Lancair I have experienced a frozen static system but never a frozen pitot. Thought it was once after an avionics installer put in an EFIS and excluded the pitot from the system - whoops. So, in spite of flying in icing conditions transiently on numerous occasions, I have never actually needed to activate pitot heat. I know, some may say I should have activated the pitot heat before entering said conditions... This is not a thread about when pitot heat should be used. It is a question of if I need to install a heated pitot in the RV-9A.

We intend to use the RV for VFR flights, IFR training, and eventually some IFR flights but not into known icing. We do have a couple GPS derived speed sources in the plane. What say you? Do I need it? Does the mast have to be long like some I have seen or could I use a short one?
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I think you are right amd probably dont need one.

I have been flying 3 years and used it once. On that trip I had to fly through an overcast layer about 1000ft thick. I would call that flight very light IFR and it was a January day in NY.

Imwas more worried about icing up my fuel vents then the pitot. But since I have pitot heat I used it.

I picked up a little ice on the windscreen and none on the wings.

With all the GPS things we have these days I think you can pickup an airspeed of some sort if you did in fact pickup ice. And again, I would be more concerned about the fuel vents.

Which, I drilled a very tiny hole...maybe a #60 inside the fuselage just on the inside panel where my gear leg bolts up.

I flew an ifr flight in my rv10 this morning. In and out of cloud tops at 14000 ft. I picked up a small amount of rime ice on the windsreen and leading edge. At one point airspeed dropped to zero ... took me about a second to realize I might need pitot heat. Airspeed restored in about 30 seconds. It paid for itself in that one flight.

No icing forcasted, and it didn't take much to plug the pitot.

Aaron

Need is relative. You would never need it if you never flew into any conditions that warrant it. I have never flown into known ice conditions, and I have needed mine on many occasions. An inop heated pitot would be a no go IMC for me. Takes away too much of my personal margin.

Kahuna said:

Need is relative. You would never need it if you never flew into any conditions that warrant it. I have never flown into known ice conditions, and I have needed mine on many occasions. An inop heated pitot would be a no go IMC for me. Takes away too much of my personal margin.

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Hello Mike

I met you a month or so ago when you were waiting to pick up your chute from Mark.

Steve

I think if you are planning on flying in IMC weather outside of the summer months, you should install a heated pitot tube. I don't know the legality of not having pitot heat, but it seems logical that it would be required in IMC with at OAT below about 10C (icing conditions). I got my pitot iced up while flying through light snow showers in VMC and my IAS went to about 35K in cruise. I don't really care what my IAS is in cruise, and it wasn't a problem, but if you aren't really comfortable flying an approach with loss of airspeed, it could be. My only concern was not over speeding my flaps, so I slowed to a speed I knew was a safe flaps speed before deploying them. Even though I didn't have any real problem, I don't think it is a safe thing to do in any normal situation - so I now have a heated pitot tube, which I seldom use, but it's there for when I need it.

Scott Hersha said:

I think if you are planning on flying in IMC weather outside of the summer months, you should install a heated pitot tube. I don't know the legality of not having pitot heat, but it seems logical that it would be required in IMC with at OAT below about 10C (icing conditions). I got my pitot iced up while flying through light snow showers in VMC and my IAS went to about 35K in cruise. I don't really care what my IAS is in cruise, and it wasn't a problem, but if you aren't really comfortable flying an approach with loss of airspeed, it could be. My only concern was not over speeding my flaps, so I slowed to a speed I knew was a safe flaps speed before deploying them. Even though I didn't have any real problem, I don't think it is a safe thing to do in any normal situation - so I now have a heated pitot tube, which I seldom use, but it's there for when I need it.

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I hadn't thought about the flap speed but if I was carrying some ice I think I might just land without flaps.

Something else I just realized is the Pro Pilot autopilot is connected to the pitot. As such it would force a descent or disconnect when the indicated airspeed decreased below whatever value I set as a minimum. That right there would be significant incentive for me to just install pitot heat.

I already have a spare heated pitot lying around. Just would need to decide on which mast to get.