6 ms·
They are Pitot tubes[1], part of the system that calculates the aircraft's altitude and speed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitot-static_system https://en
by vonmoltke 6y ago
They are Pitot tubes[1], part of the system that calculates the aircraft's altitude and speed.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitot-static_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitot-static_system
- ben7799 6y agoThe large ones on the ends of the wings seem way too long to be pitot tubes.
- greedo 6y agoThose are the two pitot tubes. The other tubes on the fuselage forward of the canopy are cannons. Aft of the canopy are radio aerials. This [1] only mentions the right-hand pitot tube, but since they appear to be identical, I assume it was just an oversight on the document's author. [1]https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80T00246A001300090001-7.pdf https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80T00246...
- ben7799 6y agoIt does seem they are.. the obvious reason for having one on both wings would be redundancy, pitot tubes are not that reliable.. You need to check & inspect & cover/uncover them in preflight/postflight cause bugs & dirt and such can easily clog them. AFAICT they're so huge to get them out of the pressure effects on the wing from supersonic/transonic flight. The Mig-21 giant spike over the nose is the same thing apparently. Pretty interesting. It seems like a lot of US jets just have/had a different solution to this problem.
- ben7799 6y agoActually reading your document the long spikes at the end of the wingtips are not mentioned as the Pitot tubes.. that document says the pitot tube is mounted on the right wing 1/4 of the distance in from the tip.
- greedo 6y agoYeah, I think that has to be a mistake, either in translation or just an error. They're obviously both pitot tubes, and there's nothing mount 1/4 of the distance from the wingtip.