PowerFLARM antenna mounts

I can't believe people are still whining about the aesthetics of a PF antenna on their glareshield!

No-one seems to mind a big stonkin useless whiskey compass up there, which is probably never looked at but blocks a lot more than a thin antenna! Or a big square of solid tape holding on their bright, long yaw string (Insert plug for Bumper's Mk IV, or clear tape, even...)

And again - at the distance the antenna is located, it has virtually no effect on your field of vision - if you are focused at infinity. If not, then you can put your iPad up there and it won't make any difference.

And Ramy, the Flarm folks have stated over and over that the Flarm antenna needs to be ABOVE the glareshield with the biggest field of view to work. The transponder antenna can be buried due to the much stronger signal it works with.

Just get the darn thing and stick it up with some sort of temporary mount until someone caters to your need for a pretty cockpit and comes up with a better antenna solution - trust me it's already in progress.

And yes, when a slicker looking antenna is available, I'll probably get one too - got to look sharp for all those glider groupies!

Kirk
66

On Friday, July 13, 2012 8:19:58 AM UTC-7, kirk.stant wrote:
(Insert plug for Bumper's Mk IV, or clear tape, even...)
Kirk
66

Thanks for the plug, Kirk (g). WARNING thread hijack alert . . .

A word of caution, if you don't install a MKIV, then use wing tape or whatever, but do yourself a favor and avoid using clear tape to attach a yaw string!

Clear tape can be the absolute nastiest stuff to remove after it UV degrades. The adhesive turns solid and the clear plastic layer loses all mechanical strength so can't be pulled off. What remains has no further purpose in life but to "protect" the underlying hardened adhesive from any solvent one might be brave enough to try (and many solvents will damage Plexi, some instantly). I've worked an hour to remove clear tape and then had to polish the abused plexi before installing a MkIV.

On Friday, July 13, 2012 11:12:14 AM UTC-5, bumper wrote:

Thanks for the plug, Kirk (g). WARNING thread hijack alert . . .

A word of caution, if you don't install a MKIV, then use wing tape or whatever, but do yourself a favor and avoid using clear tape to attach a yaw string!

Clear tape can be the absolute nastiest stuff to remove after it UV degrades. The adhesive turns solid and the clear plastic layer loses all mechanical strength so can't be pulled off. What remains has no further purpose in life but to "protect" the underlying hardened adhesive from any solvent one might be brave enough to try (and many solvents will damage Plexi, some instantly). I've worked an hour to remove clear tape and then had to polish the abused plexi before installing a MkIV.

Bumper, I've had good luck using Scotch SuperStrength Packaging tape - comes on a red dispenser. My primary use of this tape is to cover the big LS tail attachement hole on the top of the horizontal tail - been using it for 13 years with no problems yet. It also works fine for attaching a yawstring - a bit tricky to get the correct shape because the tape is not stretchy and has to be carefully cut but the result is almost as good as your hi-tech Mk IV. I've never had any problem getting the old tape or glue off when replacing the string.

Handy for doing a fleet of club gliders after heathens have stuck on yawstrings with duct tape!

Caveat - only used on gliders that are not tied down outside very long. So this tape may not work well if left outside all the time.

Cheers,

Kirk
66

Kirk, I actually do mind a compass in front and this was the first thing I did when purchase my glider was removed the compass from the top of the glare shield and installed a mark 4 yaw string. I agree that those who have a compass in front and white tape holding their yaw strings should not complain. As for how much the antenna needs to be above the glare shield the Flarm post above suggests it is less critical as some other posters suggested.
The Schleichers have already limited forward visibility to start with. Less of a problem in DG.

Ramy