On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 04:19:00 -0600, Big John
wrote:
:
:A basic question. How many homebuilts are IFR certified and are flown
:in icing conditions and need a heated pitot tube?


A significant number are IFR certified. None (or nearly none) are
flown in *known* icing - it's when happens despite your best efforts
that you don't want it to kill you.

I don't think I'm going to put pitot heat on mine, despite a fully
redundant Uuber IFR panel from the 6th circle of Hell (2 of everything
except engine instruments). A while back I tried putting a post-it
note over my airspeed indicator, and found I could land just fine.
GPS gave me a general idea of airspeed, I knew what my approach looked
like and how much power I was carrying. If the nose started to bob, I
added a touch of power. I wouldn't do it in a conventional
configuration but in a canard it worked surprisingly well.