Yeah I was thinking that on aircraft with side by side seating it would mean the shortest distance between the pitot and the main instruments.
Some old machines had a very basic airspeed indicator like this.
I’ve only heard one pilot over here call it a “pit-ot” tube (for which he was mocked), but it is perhaps more common in the States?
The Hurricane sits quite high off the ground. I’m almost certain that it is a step/stirrup.
and I’ve only seen those on the starboard side. Weird.
No, that will pretty much generate very high mock numbers among pilots.
I think I only heard it once also, and much mockery followed. Pee-tote I’ve heard a few times, but maybe it was a local thing.
True, many fighters have only one pitot tube that sticks out of the front of the nose (F-16, F-100, F101, F-105…). The F-15, though, has two airspeed pitot tubes - one on either side of the nose. All the aircraft I’ve flown also have conical or sometimes vane-shaped angle of attack (AOA) probes that also come in pairs. The big thing I try to remember is to avoid touching the surfaces of these probes if possible, as they are delicate (the AOA probes, anyway) and capable of causing severe burns when heated as an anti-ice measure. I know of one crew chief who, during a “hot pit” refueling (plane lands and takes more gas with one engine running to reduce time between flights), stumbled and grabbed an F-15 pitot tube that was still hot and got a nasty burn.
I was taught to just visually inspect the tubes before flight to make sure nothing was blocking them and to only move the AOA probes slowly and with two fingers to ensure they had full range of motion. Oh, and I always check for taped-over static ports after hearing that story!
Looks like the F-22 and F-35 stealth aircraft also have dual pitot tubes. I’m sort of surprised they didn’t engineer a duct instead of a traditional pitot tube, but maybe the trade-off in stealth vs. simplicity wasn’t worth re-designing the whole affair.
I’ve never heard an incorrect pronunciation from someone who actually knew what one was.
Hand in the air. knowing what it is and does is separate from knowing it’s pronunciation. I made this mistake as a student pilot asking a question and have since heard other student pilots pronounce it wrong. You need to hear it first in conversation.