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Bent whip antenna mounted on top

Mycool

Well Known Member
Hello,
was wondering if anyone had any input on bent whip antennas mounted on top of aircraft. Looking to weigh all the pro?s and con?s if any.
 
I've been flying a "slightly bent" whip on the rear turtle deck of my RV-6 since 1999 and it has worked very well. Not sure why one would want to use a real "bent" whip on top when the straighter version works so well. Seems to me it would put most of the element in the horizontal orientation which is not good for COM antennae.

The antenna on the left is the Delta Pop antenna I've used for the past several years:

DSC01755_1.jpg
 
The biggest "con" is that you can't list a "pro" for using the bent whip on the top... The bend is there to get ground clearance, and sacrifices a small amount of verticality in the antenna. No reason to bend an antenna on top of the plane.
 
No reason to use one, unless you have one on hand & don't want to spend the money on another.

It won't perform as well, but whether you can tell the difference if you're not on an antenna test range with multi-kilobuck test gear is a different question.

Charlie
 
I agree, Was hoping I can use the bent Antenna and still have the same performance on the top.

You actually lose less than you might expect. An ideal 1/4 wave whip, bent half way up, still radiates over 80% of the vertically polarized power as the unbent whip.
 
Pro - reduction of the drag coefficient by maybe .001 percent (a WAG not even a SWAG).

Con - less effective comm radiation pattern.

If you want to trade comm effectivity for less drag go with a wingrip enclosed antenna.

Or just concentrate on reducing cooling drag for more bang for the buck in terms of effort.

My totally, untried, and therefore, totally untested and not backed by any evidence, empirical or otherwise, opinion.

But then, offered with no expectation of renumeration in any form, or with any reason.
 
To level set, there is no practical performance difference between a bent whip antenna and a straight whip antenna. For that matter there is no operational difference between a top and bottom mounted comm antennas. If you are on an instrumented test range you might measure a variance - but again, this is well below the threshold for practical application.

Put the antennas wherever you want (do not violate spacing considerations). Personally I consider any COMM, NAV or ELT antenna on top fo the fusleage or on the vertical stablizer ruins the lines of an RV.

Carl
 
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