Had to repair a fuel seep and ended up taking the left tank off. Decided to check the wing interior while I had the tank out. My pitot tube is mounted through the leading edge of the left wing 2 ribs outboard of the tank (I didn't build it). My static ports (2) are on each side of the fuselage behind the baggage compartment.
The pitot tube is a threaded rod that mounts into a bracket riveted to a rib. The part that confuses me is why 2 air lines are mounted on the bracket. I traced one of the lines all the way up into the cockpit directly to the airspeed indicator. The other one terminates (cut) just prior to entering the left side of the fuselage. This line is not connected to anything and is open on the end.
The airspeed indicator has always been pretty accurate and within a knot or two of the GPS. What is this other line for? Some of the local RV guys think it was installed for a possible future AOA system. I had an avionics guy at the hangar and had him test both the static & pitot lines. The static is accurate and tight but the pitot line does not hold pressure. I suspect there is a leak somewhere and both lines are very old & brittle. I replaced the static lines and plan to replace these pitot lines as well. Should I cap off this other line that goes nowhere? If this line is sucking off pitot pressure then why is my airspeed indicator accurate?
Lastly, is there a way to retrofit the pitot tube with a heating element to have a heated pitot tube?
Would appreciate your inputs,
Oly
Pitot Tube help
Linear Mode
