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Old 29th May 2011, 15:05
  #564 (permalink)  
milsabords
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: France
Age: 83
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Pitot tubes

Pitot tubes can be clogged by dust, water or ice cristals because air flows inside from their inlets to their drain holes.

I imagine a tube w/o a drain hole, fed from the aircraft by a variable presssure air pump, controlled to deliver a fixed air flow. The internal pressure is a function of the outside total pressure at the tube inlet, therefore the air speed can be measured.
Side benefit: a simple test on the ground can detect clogging by insects or scotch tape.
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