On 2 May 2004 21:05:08 -0800, (Mark James Boyd)
wrote:

I pulled a swivelling tailwheel off a G-103 today and was (gratefully)
reminded to not hit the long TE probe when standing up.

Why are these things so long? If they were 2" instead of
a foot long would it really matter that much? Is the airflow
really disturbed enough to make a difference?

The pitot on many power planes is maybe 2-4" long.
What's the deal here?

Has anyone tried a shorter TE probe? What's the difference
in error? Can it be compensated?


You want to keep the probe out of the flow field around the fin/stab.
This flow can exaggerate pitch and slip changes and the LE of the tail
surfaces have stagnation points so small changes in slip and pitch
may cause small changes in pressure over small time periods which may
in fact be large rates of change of pressure and rate of chnage of
pressure is what varios measure.

While you are at it clean the bugs off the probe before flying -
everyone cleans the wing leading edges but how many clean the probe?

Mike Borgelt