In a message dated 27/11/99 20:13:50 Greenwich Standard Time,
peterlert@montrose.net writes:
<< There have also been a few systems that used the Earth's electrostatic
(not electromagnetic) field; >>
Really ! How does that work ? One would of thought that anything from the
earth would be swamped by weather generated static, and by surface charge
accumulation galore especially on composite aircraft. Surely before
measuring differences due to tilt, a pre-requisite is to measure altitude
very accurately - haven't heard of any electrostatic altimeters yet. The
ordinary altimeter is actually close to being usable. You could just about
see a meter difference between the wingtips if you had a static vent in each
and fed two identically set altimeters. Better use an ASI where you have two
inputs already, one to the inside and one to the outside of the capsule, so
differences could be read on the one instrument. 3m. of wingtip difference
would read around 20kts, so a bit more gain (a laser interferometer from a CD
player?) could fix that. BTW the ASI tank gauge in G-EMIN continues to read
the fuel head accurately, and rarely needs to be reset.
Now what else can I use an ASI for -- hmmn.. temperature raises air pressure
in a closed tube so .........
Graham C G-EMIN
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