Removing old antennas

Is it worth the bother?

We're coming up on our annual inspection in May, and there are at least four
antennas on our bird that do nothing. I'll bet there's a few feet of cable
going to each one, too.

Does removing an antenna net you any extra speed, or is it mainly a weight
reduction thing?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Does removing an antenna net you any extra speed, or is it mainly a weight
reduction thing?

I never saw any speed decrease when I added an antenna, so I wouldn't expect to
see an increase when I removed one. I've never added more than one at a time,
though.

George Patterson
Battle, n; A method of untying with the teeth a political knot that would
not yield to the tongue.

In article iI76c.32458$_w.542610@attbi_s53,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Is it worth the bother?

We're coming up on our annual inspection in May, and there are at least four
antennas on our bird that do nothing. I'll bet there's a few feet of cable
going to each one, too.

Does removing an antenna net you any extra speed, or is it mainly a weight
reduction thing?

Antennae increase drag (especially when they're attached to bugs
squashed onto the leading edge of the wing). So, yes, removing them
should result in increased airspeed. The big question is, "how much".
I think the answer tends to be "less than you'd hope".

One good clue is to read the optional equipment supplements in most
POH's. They'll typically list a half dozen different radios that could
be installed, each with their own protuberance on the outside.
Generally, under "performance changes" they'll say something like "no
significant change".

You've really got two choices. You can spend a lot of time and money
doing really careful performance measurements before and after and see
if removing them really made any difference. Or, you can just pay the
guy to take them off and be happy in your believe that you've made the
airplane faster. It certainly won't make it any slower.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:iI76c.32458$_w.542610@attbi_s53...
Is it worth the bother?

We're coming up on our annual inspection in May, and there are at least
four
antennas on our bird that do nothing. I'll bet there's a few feet of
cable
going to each one, too.

Does removing an antenna net you any extra speed, or is it mainly a weight
reduction thing?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay,

You have no choice. You are REQUIRED to remove inoperative equipment. Part
91.405 (c).

Best,
Karl.

BTW, the reg says the equipment must be repaired, replaced, removed or
inspected at the next required inspection. What they mean by "inspected" is
if a required inspection is due. Not just the mechanic peering at a piece of
inop equipment and letting it go for another year! This rule is regularily
ignored by the GA community. But it would never fly at a reputable repair
facility. Once the antennas are removed you will have to revise the
equipment list and weight and balance.

"Curator" N185KG, fire breathing Skywagon!

Oh, Christ. Here we go again...


Jim




"kage"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-
-You have no choice. You are REQUIRED to remove inoperative equipment. Part
-91.405 (c).
-
-Best,
-Karl.




Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

I cannot speak to your airframe. When we did the calcs on Voyager, we figured
we added roughly half a knot for each antenna we put inside the fuselage. I'd
probably guess about the same for you.

Worth the bother? Perhaps. Surely makes a cleaner looking airplane, even WITH
the scab patches over the old antenna holes (painted to match, of course).

Jim


"Jay Honeck"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Is it worth the bother?



Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

In article iI76c.32458$_w.542610@attbi_s53,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Is it worth the bother?

We're coming up on our annual inspection in May, and there are at least four
antennas on our bird that do nothing. I'll bet there's a few feet of cable
going to each one, too.

Does removing an antenna net you any extra speed, or is it mainly a weight
reduction thing?



It depends on the location -- antennae on the top of the fuselage or
ahead of the windshield are in the highest-drag places and may give you
a knot.

Another effect to consider is that, (even unused) antennae may affect
radio transmission coverage. they can resonate with your transmitter and
cause distortions and scalloped radiation patterns.

Advice: get rid of unused antennae!

They are working spares so they can Stay :-)
Michelle

kage wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:iI76c.32458$_w.542610@attbi_s53...


Is it worth the bother?

We're coming up on our annual inspection in May, and there are at least


four


antennas on our bird that do nothing. I'll bet there's a few feet of


cable


going to each one, too.

Does removing an antenna net you any extra speed, or is it mainly a weight
reduction thing?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"



Jay,

You have no choice. You are REQUIRED to remove inoperative equipment. Part
91.405 (c).

Best,
Karl.

BTW, the reg says the equipment must be repaired, replaced, removed or
inspected at the next required inspection. What they mean by "inspected" is
if a required inspection is due. Not just the mechanic peering at a piece of
inop equipment and letting it go for another year! This rule is regularily
ignored by the GA community. But it would never fly at a reputable repair
facility. Once the antennas are removed you will have to revise the
equipment list and weight and balance.

"Curator" N185KG, fire breathing Skywagon!





--

Michelle P ATP-ASEL, CP-AMEL, and AMT-A&P

"Elisabeth" a Maule M-7-235B (no two are alike)

Volunteer Pilot, Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic

Volunteer Builder, Habitat for Humanity

kage wrote:

You have no choice. You are REQUIRED to remove inoperative equipment.

All of these antennae work just fine, so they don't have to be removed. There's
no reg that says they have to be connected to anything.

George Patterson
Battle, n; A method of untying with the teeth a political knot that would
not yield to the tongue.

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 19:49:08 -0800, Jim Weir wrote:

Worth the bother? Perhaps. Surely makes a cleaner looking airplane, even WITH
the scab patches over the old antenna holes (painted to match, of course).

"Scab patches"? I just bought one of the little 99 cent steel hole plugs
at Coast to Coast Aerospace, when I pulled the LORAN antenna off the Fly
Baby.... :-)

Ron "And I painted it with a $3 rattle can" Wanttaja