pitot tube confusion - plastic or aluminum?

[dwilson]

What are the pro's and con's of plastic VS aluminum pitot tube. I am putting in a Gretz heated pitot tube. I already ran the standart aluminum tube through the wing, but not sure how exactly to get from the AN fitting in the inmost rib to the airspeed inticator with aluminum.
Seems like it would be easier to just run plastic through the wing and into the airspeed indicator.

I covet your experience and observations!


Duane Wilson

[dan]

My 2 cents...ditch that fitting at the wing root. At least on an RV-7, there's simply not enough room to work with in there once the wings go on. Think from a perspective of ease of maintenance. Put the connection, if you need a connection, where you can access it.



That's my setup. I have about 1' of aluminum, sort of as a heat sink, and then I transitioned to 1/4" OD polyethylene tubing using a length of silicone tubing to join the two. No flares, no fuss, no leaks.

That poly tubing runs in one contiguous piece all the way up to where it forks out to the Dynon and airspeed indicator.

I started out with an AN bulkhead fitting at the wing root like you mentioned, and I ended up getting rid of it before the wings went on for good.

)_( Dan
RV-7 N714D (706 hours)
http://www.rvproject.com