Has anyone added AoA to a flying plane? if so how difficult was it to mount the new pitot hosing and run the additional hose through the wing?
Thanks!
Has anyone added AoA to a flying plane? if so how difficult was it to mount the new pitot hosing and run the additional hose through the wing?
Thanks!
I added a Garmin AOA pitot tube to a covered and painted wing. First I added a plywood doubler inside the wing to bring it flush to the fabric and support the heavier tube (this was challenging). Then I mounted the new pitot extension and tube, ran the AOA tubing to the outboard end of the wing and pulled it though the rear spar (which was super easy).
So it depends on how easy it is to get to your existing pitot tube. Do you have an inspection hole at your pitot tube? If your current pitot tube is too hard to reach you could consider cutting/capping the current one and installing the new one one or two ribs from the outboard end of the wing where it is easy to reach. Then you can run new tubing though the rear spar like I did.
Phil Nelson
A&P-IA, Maintenance Instructor
KF 5 Outback, Cont. IO-240
Flying since 2016
adding the pitot tube close to the end of the wing is a good idea, i'm guessing you pulled the wingtip? Looking at mine that seems like it could be quite and undertaking. I think my current tubing is running through the spar, I was thinking i could maybe use the current tube to pull the new ones through but i'd imagine its zip tied to something along the way,
Yes, I pulled the wingtip to do this. I thought about trying to pull the new tube with the existing one, but it was much easier to just route the tubes out to the outboard rib and back through the rear spar.
Phil Nelson
A&P-IA, Maintenance Instructor
KF 5 Outback, Cont. IO-240
Flying since 2016
It turns out that when the wing was clipped on my model 6 they basically used a 2 inch finish tape to put the wingtip back on, explaining my confusion. I didn't realize that normally the wingtip just screwed on. It seems like i'll have to cut them off and then affix them in a more standard way and then repaint them to make sure this isn't such a pain next time. Thanks to those that responded for the help!