TE probe up or down?

In article
,
Andy wrote:

On Sep 26, 12:13*pm, "kirk.stant" wrote:
It's raining at the field today so here is a serious soaring question
to ponder:

Why be so limited in your thinking? What's wrong with sideways?
Then you can ponder which of those 2 options depending on you
thermalling direction preference.

I point mine up so I'm less likely to bend it.

Ironic how you accuse Kirk of limited thinking and yet you yourself use
a technique which gives you a mere four total options.

When the time comes to insert my TE probe, I get out my iPhone and have
it generate a random number in the range [0, 2pi). I then orient my TE
probe to the angle that this represents in radians. In this manner I
eliminate human bias and therefore increase thermalling performance.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon

Ah Ha! the new indicator of a worthless thread, Someone mentions an
iPhone app.

On Sep 26, 3:13*pm, "kirk.stant" wrote:
It's raining at the field today so here is a serious soaring question
to ponder:

Should the end of the TE probe on the fin point up or down?

Informal surveys at recent contests seem to show a slight preference
for up (not counting those "swingers" that go both ways).

I've heard all sorts of reasons why each orientation is best - angle
of attack during pull-ups, airflow in front of the tail, G-effects on
the air column, blah blah blah...

I point mine up so I don't snag it when taking off the tail dolly!

Comments?

Kirk
Wet in IL

Up works better for me on Schleicher gliders. This raises the sensing
point about 6 inches which reduces errors form wing root vortexes
whien I pull really hard.
I leave probe in cockpit on claf pad until glider is on the grid with
dolly off to avoid damage.
FWIW
UH

Pete Russel (former SAGE Variometer maker) tested TE probes in all
directions..Pete reported it worked equally as well off to the left or right
as it did up or down....
if you can't decide, ESA has made for several years their DN/ST probes that
have both up and down ends.....all users have reported that these work
really very well...
see http://www.wingsandwheels.com/page20.htm
tim

"Andy" wrote in message
...
On Sep 26, 12:13 pm, "kirk.stant" wrote:
It's raining at the field today so here is a serious soaring question
to ponder:

Why be so limited in your thinking? What's wrong with sideways?
Then you can ponder which of those 2 options depending on you
thermalling direction preference.

I point mine up so I'm less likely to bend it.


Andy


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In article
,
SoaringXCellence wrote:

Ah Ha! the new indicator of a worthless thread, Someone mentions an
iPhone app.

It was the iPhone mention that bothers you, and not the claim that a
randomly-chosen angle improves thermalling performance by removing human
bias?

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon

On Sep 26, 12:13*pm, "kirk.stant" wrote:
It's raining at the field today so here is a serious soaring question
to ponder:

Should the end of the TE probe on the fin point up or down?

Informal surveys at recent contests seem to show a slight preference
for up (not counting those "swingers" that go both ways).

I've heard all sorts of reasons why each orientation is best - angle
of attack during pull-ups, airflow in front of the tail, G-effects on
the air column, blah blah blah...

I point mine up so I don't snag it when taking off the tail dolly!

Comments?

Kirk
Wet in IL

I point mine down. I tried it pointed up once, because all the cool
kids were doing it. I found that with it pointed up, the onset of
'needle flutter' happened sooner on my glider. Also, if I tie out for
a day, and it rains, there is a possiblilty of water getting into my
system with it pointed up.

On Sep 27, 1:44*pm, Grider Pirate wrote:
On Sep 26, 12:13*pm, "kirk.stant" wrote:


I point mine down. *I tried it pointed up once, because all the cool
kids were doing it. *I found that with it pointed up, the onset of
'needle flutter' happened sooner on my glider. *Also, if I tie out for
a day, and it rains, there is a possiblilty of water getting into my
system with it pointed up.


Put a bag over it and you can keep it pointed up....

On Sep 27, 12:49*pm, Whiskey Delta wrote:
On Sep 27, 1:44*pm, Grider Pirate wrote:

On Sep 26, 12:13*pm, "kirk.stant" wrote:

I point mine down. *I tried it pointed up once, because all the cool
kids were doing it. *I found that with it pointed up, the onset of
'needle flutter' happened sooner on my glider. *Also, if I tie out for
a day, and it rains, there is a possiblilty of water getting into my
system with it pointed up.

Put a bag over it and you can keep it pointed up....

After day two of the Memorial Day contest in Huntley this year, we had
the regular hangar BS session in the evening. Herb Killian was of the
opinion that it should point down. It did have something to do with a
pee bag snagging on the upturned TE probe :-)

Pete

According to the ESA website, which adressed this frequently ask
question, it should be pointed up according to professor Loek
Boermans unless you have the DN/x type probe. This probe should be
mounted horizontally, i.e. parallel to the wings. They also explain
the reasoning for this.

Barry

On Sep 27, 5:13*am, "kirk.stant" wrote:
It's raining at the field today so here is a serious soaring question
to ponder:

Should the end of the TE probe on the fin point up or down?

Informal surveys at recent contests seem to show a slight preference
for up (not counting those "swingers" that go both ways).

I've heard all sorts of reasons why each orientation is best - angle
of attack during pull-ups, airflow in front of the tail, G-effects on
the air column, blah blah blah...

I point mine up so I don't snag it when taking off the tail dolly!

Comments?

Kirk
Wet in IL

Well, your very own Oran W. Nicks describes the development of the
probe in your "Soaring" magazine of September 1976. He definitely has
the probe pointing up. As he is the inventor and arrived at the
configuration in extensive wind tunnel tests that settles it for me.

Rolf