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Old January 1st 20, 08:36 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
MNLou
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Default Locating Transponder Antenna on top of the fuselage instead ofunder it.

On Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at 8:32:48 AM UTC-6, India November wrote:
I am thinking of the theoretical advantage in drag coefficient of a blade vs rod antenna which holds for any speed.


Assuming, as previously stated, that the blade antenna is aligned with the airflow around the fuselage at that point.

I would think that the drag of a misaligned blade antenna could be significantly higher than the perfect alignment drag.

For that reason, I'm personally going with a rod and ball antenna. The manufacturer's recommendation for mounting a transponder antenna is in an area where I have no idea how the air really flows.

Does anyone know if the difference between a perfectly aligned blade antenna and a rod and ball antenna is at all significant at, say, 100 kts airspeed?

Lou