Airspeed Guadge

This is an airspeed gauge prototype. The idea being the weight hangs down and the wind tab which slides into the weight and would be glued in place could be re-designed easily in testing to calibrate. Likewise the indicator weight has 3 x 6mm holes booleaned so that 6mm bolt shanks could be slid into place to add weight if needed for calibration. The idea being this would be useful for measuring airspeed in different situations however this is a design in progress so no idea if or how well it might work yet. I designed this as I fly gyroplanes and saw a similar design made of steel on a gyro. I imagine adding calibrated marks or even printing them on a sticker when finished.

However it should be noted that if using this with any aircraft such as this the risk is all yours I make no guarantee of its safety, you should consider the vibration and ability for it to fall off and fly through a propeller. Also as the airspeed indicated will be effected by angle in a gyro which climb fairly level this should not change much but during descent in which the nose if pointed down you may find this too inaccurate to be safe. For this reason I am thinking of changing this design to just incorporate a spring. However even as a hand held airspeed gauge for training purposes on the ground or in a gyroglider (towed behind a car) this may be perfectly suitable. I'd suggest a thin washer between the base and indicator to ensure free movement. It may also be suitable for hang gliders once modify to add a spring and remove the weight feel free to modify and get working. I always used a hall guage which was a tapered plastic tube with a disk and found this a good indicator a simple device like this might save some money on unnecessarily expensive guages. However gyros cannot stall and I personally was trained to fly without a gauge at all so I have a good idea of airspeed from stick feel so I wouldn't be too put out if this thing fell off. Beware though inexperienced pilots should only be using certified gauges or at least have an experienced pilot test this first.