Yep, I certainly agree with those bottom lines. After all,
almost all of us still operate with only one (1) pitot tube. What good is my
AOA device and two airspeed indicators if they use the same reference
source?
Scott,
I was faced with the same problem
when I elected to add a Dynon D-10A to my panel fairly late in construction of
my IV-P. Hooking it to the same power, pitot and static ports seemed a bad
way to configure a secondary system, so I installed a separate pitot and static
source for it. The new light weight tubing and nylon fittings seem ideal for this
application. As the plane was already painted, I installed the Dynon’s
straight pitot/AOA tube through a hole in the leading edge of my right winglet
with minimal damage to the already-painted winglet. Worked well, but I do have
a pitot tube sticking out of the right winglet that seems ideally placed to
catch you in the chest during walk around. At least the flag on it is pretty
visible. J
The Dynon is installed on the
right side of the panel, along with a Garmin 496, giving me an “internally
battery powered” ability to fly and navigate with loss of all electrical
systems. I did compromise and connect an aircraft power feed to these
instruments for “normal” use by my flying partner. I also “discovered”
during testing that all battery/alternator/power controls for the airplane pass
through a single cannon plug on the firewall—a design error that was
easily avoided by better planning, but has been a b---- to correct after the
engine was installed and the firewall wiring closed out. However, after seeing
the results of the cannon plug being accidentally disconnected during testing,
I felt this was such a critical error that I went back and re-wired to provide
separate paths for the independent electrical systems. …just something to
think about.
Your first line above applies
to me…in spades!
Bob