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safe air pitot mount

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:25 pm
by weezbad
Anyone know why the safe air pitot mount is half the price of the gretz mount??? http://www.safeair1.com/index.htm V/S :?

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/i ... ackets.php

i am comparing the paintable ones.

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:28 pm
by bullojm1
I have the gretz, and the only difference I can tell is the gretz comes with a kit to make it removable, while the SafeAir1 comes as non-removable. Now, it wouldn't take much to make the safeair1 removable, in fact, if I was to do it all over again, I would of gone the route of the SafeAir1 mast and made it removable.

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:56 pm
by Spike
I got the gretz. There were aspects of it that I was not happy about. The finish of the metal work could have been done better.

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:04 pm
by JohnR
I have a Safeair and am happy with it.

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:39 pm
by captain_john
Willie,

The primary difference between them is SafeAir returns calls and emails. The SafeAir one also costs less and has a lower parts count.

SafeAir is easy to work with and a great company overall!

I can't think of a reason to go Gretz, hence the reason I went with SafeAir.

:) CJ

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:28 am
by weezbad
thanks for the replies guy's, safe air it is. i also think i may put the dynon AOA on the right wing and the stock vans pitot on the left wing.

later

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:47 am
by BSwayze
I found a great deal on an excellent Pitot Tube from Evan's Aviation Products. He's known for building tanks, but he has some other products, too. Check out his Pitot Tube on his web site. My technical Advisor, Randy Lervold, has this on his website. That's how I found out about it. It's only $230.00 for the whole thing, the mast, the mounting hardware, the works. It's removable. It's powder coated. I'm very happy with the workmanship, his service, and of course, the price. He even shipped it to me on a phone call to look at, and I was able to send him a check afterwards. Where else do you find that?

Here's a link to his website, and a picture below of my installation on my left wing. I plan on a Tru Trak or some other autopilot servo on the right wing along with the AOA.

Bruce

http://www.evansaviationproducts.com/Ot ... oducts.htm

Image

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:01 pm
by jwyatt
Bruce --

Looks good! A timely topic for me, getting ready to order wings. Do you know if the Evan's mast will accept a heated tube later on down the road? (Gretz, Dynon, Falcon, etc?)
I believe the Safeair mast will accept the popular tubes, heated or no. If the Evans mast is the same way, it is an appealing option on the lower end of the price-scale for an unheated tube, while still allowing upgrade for IFR later on.

-JDW

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:42 pm
by BSwayze
jwyatt wrote:Bruce --

Looks good! Do you know if the Evan's mast will accept a heated tube later on down the road? (Gretz, Dynon, Falcon, etc?)

-JDW
Actually, I had that conversation with him when I was on the phone with him. He said he's looking into developing a heated tube of his own right now that would cost a lot less than the other big names on the market. How long will that take? Who knows... but for now, this works for me. I don't know if the other brands will fit into this mast, but it would be interesting to find out. It would be as easy as a phone call to ask him.

It might not be that difficult to modify something, if necessary, to make it fit. Also, it might help to know that not only is the pitot tube removeable, but this mast is removeable, too! Here's a shot of mine, showing that 4 screws hold the mast on via nutplates riveted to the flange on the mast. All in all, it leaves us a lot of options down the road.

Bruce

Image

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:03 pm
by weezbad
very nice install there. :wink: i didnt see the mast seperate and already have the dynon heated aoa tube so safe air it is...you install makes me like the "through the skin better."

safeair safe air mount

Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:58 am
by weezbad
well i installed the safe air pitot mount. very straight forward but i added a brace as it seemed to need some additional bracing...simple enough though..here are a few pics of my method.
Image

the braket i fabbed
Image

installed, very little mevement here,
probally was ok before but i wanted it a touch more rigid because of the AOA
Image

why 2 pitot tubes

Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:32 pm
by lancef53
What is the reason for running the 2 setups? Do you need to have a second source to run a steam airspeed as backup for a Dynon 180? I was thinking I could use just one pitot, so I installed the Dynon AOA pitot on the gretz mount.

Thanks, Lance

Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:53 pm
by weezbad
well was thinking about a back up but i'll likely cap the fitting off. as you you can tell i was planning on a simple setup in the begining. i was making sure they matched in distance from the wing in that photo. still think a backup would be cool. i have the back up gages already installed but will likely tap into the dynons lines.

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:07 am
by jim_geo
I've got the same thing goin on. Trying to figure out a decent way to cap it off without looking obvious. Maybe I could put a little light on there. :)

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:12 am
by weezbad
well if you find a neat soulution let me know.. at present i'll likely cap it off. :|