I didn’t have much time to work on the plane tonight, but I decided to start modifying the left bottom wing skin for the pitot mount. I’m using the pitot mount from SafeAir. The mounting instructions call for mounting the pitot tube in the bay just outboard from the last access hole. The problem with that is that it also puts the pitot tube just outboard of the tie-down bracket. Since RVs have relatively narrow wing spans compared to typical GA aircraft, it means that tie-down ropes typically splay outward from the tie-down brackets. This means they could easily get caught up in the pitot tube and damage it. Instead, I’m mounting the pitot tube in the bay just inboard of the last access hole. This is only about 1′ inboard from the recommended mounting location, and only about 3″ inboard from Van’s stock location, so it shouldn’t have any impact on pitot measurement (others who have mounted it here confirm that it works great).
Since I’m mounting the pitot tube just behind the tank, the tank attach platenuts prevent the mounting bracket from sitting as far forward as the installation instructions call for (I have to mount it about 1/4″ aft of the recommended location). Since I’m deviating from the instructions so significantly, I decided to just scrap them and improvise.
I took some measurements off of the leading edge and the adjacent rib holes. While ensuring the tube will be aligned with the airflow, I marked where the cutout goes. It’s late, so I’ll cut this later.
