Scott Hersha
Well Known Member
Here's a question for the aero engineers in the group - or anyone else that knows.
Why do we have a pitot mast that is up to 6 inches long? Does it really need to be that far away from the bottom of the wing to get undesturbed air? I think it's not to clear boundary layer air because that is pretty thin. The reason I asked is I would like to use a shorter one on my RV14. I found one that is only 2.3 inches long, heated, and very light weight with a static port that is also heated. Sometimes I think we do things because that's the way we've always done it. If I can get a fairly accurate reading at 2.3 inches, why do I need one that looks like it came off a B-52?
Experts and others please respond.
Thanks
Why do we have a pitot mast that is up to 6 inches long? Does it really need to be that far away from the bottom of the wing to get undesturbed air? I think it's not to clear boundary layer air because that is pretty thin. The reason I asked is I would like to use a shorter one on my RV14. I found one that is only 2.3 inches long, heated, and very light weight with a static port that is also heated. Sometimes I think we do things because that's the way we've always done it. If I can get a fairly accurate reading at 2.3 inches, why do I need one that looks like it came off a B-52?
Experts and others please respond.
Thanks