I’ve been tying to finish as much of the leading edge work as possible before they go on the wings for good. That includes the Angle of Attack (AoA) system I bought from Advanced Flight Systems. The “A” kit for this system includes the pressure probes that provide static pressure above and below the wing to a processor that computes AoA. If you’ve got a hankerin’ to know how this system works, click here (MS PowerPoint required).

These pressure probes go in the outer portion of one leading edge; the locations are specific to each airplane design. Captain John had already installed an identical system in his RV, and he lent me a drill template he fabricated for the port. Here it is taped in location on the left upper leading edge.

AoA port template

Here are the holes…two for the #4 screws that hold the probe in place, and a #60 hole that actually provides static pressure to the probe.

AoA port holes

Here’s the upper probe temporarily screwed into position. The Duckworks instructions hint that the screw holes can be dimpled with a #30 die, but I couldn’t get the screws to set flush in a test piece of scrap – so I called Cleaveland and ordered a set of #4 dimple dies – worked great.

AoA port

Here’s the upper probe itself, the lower probe looks very similar. The quick drain on the bottom of this probe allows moisture to be drained from the probe. The kit comes with a ‘poker’ that’s inserted through a hole in the underside of the leading edge to push in the quick drain.

AoA probe

Small-diameter tubing connects that barb on the probe to the processor in the cockpit. I won’t install them until the leading edges have been riveted on to the wings.