The Little World

Particularly the plastic pitot. That final touch on your model airplane that is carefully cemented on and then just as carefully broken off again. Repeatedly. And then repaired until the leading edge of the wing has a quarter inch of dried superglue on it, looking like a snot nugget.

I researched what pitot tubes are supposed to do on full-size aircraft. Velocity of airflow was the most common answer, so I’m guessing airspeed. That’s all very well, but I suspect they can also measure this with little propellors or screaming gnomes or wet fingers…all of which need not be made of thin plastic at the edge of a wing.

I have spent a day reviewing the collection and renewing pitots that have fractured. But this time I’ve gotten smart – I found a piece of thin piano wire, cut it into suitable lengths, and drilled holes for it in the leading edges. The wire is far tougher than anything before and should last a long time.