Installing the Dynon Avionics Pitot Tube (Ep19)

[@florencechan8863]

Thank you Mark! This is super helpfiul

[@johncambra9332]

I like this channel because you put a lot of thought into each and every step. You don't wing it sort to speak. Nice to see how well you take care of the practical as well as the fit and finish. Nice Job!!

[@davidrobins4025]

As always, I appreciate your depiction and description of the work you are doing. The access door with the heat control mounted on the inside is really slick. Thanks.

[@johngood3163]

Lots to consider. Happy Thanksgiving

[@johnreed8872]

Thanks Mark! Neat , clean and professional ( as always )! Enjoy your holiday , Blue Skies!

[@planesplanes2863]

Exciting to hear you're going IFR. Love your workmanship.

[@danielbasovitch5087]

Mark thanks for your reply. I was a mechanic for Japan Airlines Cargo in the late 70s, so I know what you mean, to be a contortionist is a good thing, when it comes to airplanes.

[@can5projects563]

nice installation.

[@wb6anp]

According to Garmin you could have trimmed the mast, as long as the pitot tube is 4 to 6 inches below the wing and 2 to 18 inches behind the leading edge.

[@danielbasovitch5087]

Have a Great Thanksgiving Mark & safe flying.

[@markcampbell3952]

I’d like to see the two hard lines that exit the mast supported so they can’t rub against the mast tube. Possible failure point? Thanks for showing us your work. Inspirational stuff!

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Hey that's a good idea. Maybe I'll stuff a packing peanut in there. I think that would hold it nicely.

[@flewster]

I was thinking the exact same thing when I watched it. Looked like vibrations would rub those pretty good. I would suggest just some of that plastic spiral material that you put on the lines in the trailing edge spar.

[@charlesseymour1482]

Clean install and well thought out. Thanks for the video clip.

[@StubProductions]

Great video. A shop vac would be excellent to collect the aluminum shavings when using the Dremel.

[@planesplanes2863]

I watched a 2 hour Dynon Q&A installation video. Love the plug & play and functionality. But, they scared me concerning placement of cables, potential interference, vibrations, non-ferris metals, etc, etc. Good info regardless of panel manufacturer.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Of course I don't want to tell you to disregard the Dynon instructions, but just as an FYI, when I installed the remote AHRS in my RANS S-6, it said not to mount it near any metal. The only place I had to mount it was at a joint of about 5-6 steel airframe tubes. It worked perfect there and I never had any issues at all with it. My AHRD is mounted near all of the control cables in my Cruzer and it works great. It's been my experience that the mounting location is not as critical as they might say. My opinion and experience only.

[@planesplanes2863]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast Thank you for the kind and thorough reply. Blessings and happy holidays to you and the family.

[@davidwhite2011]

Those connectors for the tubing look like 1/4" 5/16" NTP polyethylene push to connect fittings. They are pretty standard in the box store isle for water to the icemaker aisle. There are a lot of custom ones and bulk head types if you need more flexibility in routing with out kinking the line.

[@vindoll6237]

Thanks for posting instructions. Gives me some good info and ideas! What flaring tool did you use?

[@russellsmith3825]

You can take the paper template a either use spray adhesive or double sided tape to affix it to the skin then cut out and drill where appropriate then remove the residual paper or adhesive.

[@stevenjohnson7745]

Great video. How do you know it’s safe to make holes in the spars? How will you get pito tube to your instrument panel?

[@drbob25]

Well done. Thanks!

[@doncatchpole7370]

Good job

[@danielbasovitch5087]

Does it make a big difference on the forward location of the pitot tube as far as "Airspeed" and angle of "Attack" accuracy , being too close to the leading edge??

[@johnmorelli8297]

Just curious, on routing of your pitot and AOA lines. Is it common practice to route the lines thru both spars with a Zenith build?

[@mathieusan]

is this kit really using 6061-T6 for the skin panels and not 2024-T3?

[@flyingkub]

You forgot to use tape for the access hole, after the great tip to use tape (what are you like :-) ). I would think about some method of supporting the aluminum tubes going up through the mast as they will vibrate and could end up getting worn or cracking (rubberised packing foam works well).

[@gutboy17]

Is it possible to shorten the pitot mast from Zenith to bring the pitot up closer to the lower surface of the wing? Love the channel.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

yes I believe it is.

[@mathieusan]

"I guess I'm gonna have to make another hole into the spar. Oh well" so.. is this a kit, or are you gonna certify your own design with this?

[@GlenAndFriendsCooking]

How did you fasten the Pitot / AOA probe to the Pitot mast? The probe itself doesn't have any mounting or screw holes; is it glued in place?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

It's a very very tight fit. I'm not using anything to hold it in.

[@GlensHangar]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast Interesting! We are doing the Dynon certified install on our Cessna 172... and the Dynon mast isn't 'certified' so we need to attach the Pitot / AOA probe to a Cessna mast. But it's not tight in the Cessna mast and there aren't any screw / bolt holes in the Pitot. Put a call into Dynon and waiting for the response, but I thought I'd see what some of my fave KZbinrs had to say. Thanks for the response!

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

@@GlensHangar My guess is you could just drill a small hole and use a sheet metal screw.

[@GlensHangar]

​@UCpPmZDmGT33if0qh5GbJpiw Actually just heard from Dynon as I finished typing the last reply - supposed to drill holes for screws to hold the whole thing together. (as I thought, but just didn't want to do until I had a confirmation)

[@scottmiller4711]

My Dynon pitot tube mast is not nearly as long as the one you installed. Are you sure it shouldn’t have been shortened a bit?

[@danielbasovitch5087]

Will you be bending the tubing to go into the same bay as the Pitot heater box or connect the lines straight down to come out of the pitot base , under the wing?

[@gregoryriddle4161]

Mark, what Dremel bit did you use to cut out the aluminum in the template?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

I have no idea. It's a just a 'regular' cheap Dremel.

[@azzamaddas4437]

Great work all over and on pitot tube as well. Are you going to rivet/fix fuel tank in situ or not?

[@MRJSWORKSHOP]

Thanks Mark Very educational, detail and thought out.

[@davidwhite2011]

You didn't show it but I assume you used a standard tubing cutter for the aluminum lines off the probe? Also is there feed back in Dynon if the heater element fails? Just watch the amp meter?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

No, I cut the tubes with a band saw. Then I cleaned up and polished the ends, and then flared them.

[@maplepaddy]

Hey Mark, at what point do you have to have a wing inspection?

[@samueltreffinger2292]

Not required here in the states.

[@maplepaddy]

@@samueltreffinger2292 Thanks

[@samueltreffinger2292]

Couldn’t you cut that mast shorter? I don’t see why it has to push the pitot tubes so far away from the wing. Just thinking here.

[@Laserdoc905]

That's what I did, Just a little it is still longer than the one supplied by Zenith.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

I’ll have to look and see where I read it (might have been the Dynon forums) but the length is not suppose to be shortened.

[@samueltreffinger2292]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast hmmm. It just doesn’t make sense. In the free air is in the free air. But I guess......if you want it to work right, stick to what they tell you you can do to it.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Honestly I would have a hard time believing shortening it an inch would make any difference-and it may not. An email to Dynon would answer that for sure. For my installation I just didn’t find a need to shorten it. It seems to mount nicely where I have it so I didn’t pursue finding out if it’s actually ok to shorten it. If you shortened yours, I wouldn’t be too concerned.

[@Laserdoc905]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast found this on the forum from Dynon support.. You can cut down the boom AoA carefully if you want to. It doesn't need to be any longer than any other AoA probe, and the nose is a great location for it. I would try and leave an inch or two just to keep it out of the boundary layer. Don't just chop through it, since the tubes obviously run inside. Cut the circumference carefully and you can slide off the back of the main tube you cut off. Obviously, once you do this, we can't warranty the part at all, but it should work fine... I was I bit worried that I really screwed up my Cruzer wing with no easy way to fix. Anyway thanks for the videos, they really help.

[@billhawkins6959]

How is the pitot tube secured in the mast?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Most people use a couple of screws. Mine fits so snugly that I'm not using any screws.

[@danielbasovitch5087]

Is there enough room at that hatch to get to the Pitot lines with 2 wrenches if needed to disconnect ? Just wondering for the future.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Daniel-remember I worked on the F-16 as a mechanic. So I can pretty much do brain surgery through a 1/8” hole LOL! I haven’t tried it yet, but I think there is enough room to disconnect the lines if I need to.

[@wb6anp]

Where did you find the snap in grommets?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Amazon. Search for snap bushing.

[@user-tl5fi9lz9z]

Don’t let the Governor know you have family coming for Thanksgiving!

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

I'm going to take a family pic and mail it to her.

[@user-tl5fi9lz9z]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast Then I'd make sure you had about 60 people there.

[@sugershakify]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast Just have to figure if they're having another boat outing so you know where to send it...

[@aviator267]

Top man 👨