Removing old antennas

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.