Frans, I don't normally cover mine, having decided the
likelihood and nuisance of leaving it on was greater than
the possibility of something nesting there, but I carry a
roll oh red PVC tape to cover my fuel tank outlets if I
expect heavy rain and I guess that would serve for areas
where funny nesting insects are to be found.
Regards, David Joyce, G-XSDJ
Frans Veldman <frans@privatepilots.nl> wrote:
><frans@privatepilots.nl>
>
> Hi,
>
> On our recent trip to Croatia we left the aircraft for
>two days on a
> very hot airfield. When we came back to depart we
>discovered that the
> ASI was reading 70 knots... (Luckily our pitot system is
>air tight
> otherwise we would have discovered it during our take
>off run or later).
> Investigation (which is no fun on a very hot tarmac
>without shadow)
> revealed that the pitot tube was internally sealed off
>by some
> substance. Even poking and moving with a piece of wire
>inside the pitot
> it was not possible to get air flow through it, despite
>all the stuff
> that came out. Whatever was in there was even past the
>90 degree bend.
> Some insect had made a whole nest or something inside
>the tube.
> I finally had to take the pitot/static assembly out to
>get it cleaned
> with compressed air.
>
> To avoid this in the future I would like to use a pitot
>cover, but in
> the past I could never find a standard cover that fits,
>so after many
> hours without a cover I thought I could live without
>one. Clearly not.
> So, has anyone found some suitable standard cover or do
>I need to make
> something myself?
>
>Frans
>
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