Correction of Static Ports Install
I got a tip on my blog a few weeks ago from Daniel H. that I should have installed the static ports from inside the fuselage, not on the outside as I documented previously. The thought never occurred to me that they should be inside; the static port on the C172 that I’ve flown for the last 15 years is mounted on the outside of the skin, just behind the engine cowling, so I just assumed it would be mounted the same on my Sling.
It wasn’t going to be easy, but I decided to move the static ports inside. Although I didn’t yet bond the static ports to the skin, they were held in place due to the skin being sandwiched between the barbed fitting and the tube. The barb fittings are quite tight, so I had to cut off the hose to remove it from the port. Then, I heated up the now-shorter hose end with a heat gun, and pushed the hose onto the static port. Somehow I did all this with just one hand through a small opening at the rear of the fuselage, and mostly blind.
I used JB Weld epoxy to bond the static port to the skin. I carefully applied a thin layer of the epoxy to the skin around the hole, then pressed and twisted the port in place, being careful not to plug the hole on the port. I used masking tape to keep the static port in place for the epoxy cure time.
