PitotShield

"This thing may have saved my a**! I was asked to test some prototypes on my Lance, and I have to admit that I rarely ever used a pitot cover before. Well, I forgot to remove the PitotShield™ prototype prior to takeoff one day. Never even knew it until I landed after the trip. I noticed the pitot cover was gone! Thanks, DeGroff Aviation Technologies! If I used the old standard pitot cover, I surely would have started the takeoff roll with it on."

"I recently purchased a new PitotShield™ cover from you at Oshkosh. I thought the idea was unique, but I was sure that I would never need the technology. Well, guess what? On my last trip I took some friends for a sightseeing ride and during the walkaround another pilot interrupted me. One thing led to another and we departed for a nice sights flight. On takeoff one of my passengers told me something fell off the wing. When I looked everything looked fine. All instruments performed normal. We had a nice flight and returned to the airport. While we were putting the plane away for the day, I could not find my PitotShield™ cover and then realized that it was what my passenger had seen fall off the wing. Losing airspeed indication on a VFR day is not critical but at full gross it could be a stressful flight. Thanks for the invention. P.S. – How about a blow off tow bar kit? I've seen pilots land with those still attached."

"I am sending in my registration card, but thought you'd like to know about my experience. So far, the shield has worked great! Even through 2 days of 50+ winds (afternoon storms), the shield has remained firmly fitted to our Piper Archer. Great product!"

"I would like tell you how well your product (PitotShield™) worked. I fly a Piper Lance out of a small field (approx. 2800'). I took the active runway and advanced the throttle. As I began my panel scan for engine gauges, everything appeared normal. RPM was 2700, manifold looked good, oil and fuel pressure was normal. My eyes darted back on the runway centerline, then quickly onto the airspeed indicator for the ‘airspeed alive’ indication. It read 'zero airspeed!' I looked back at the runway for length remaining in an effort to consider an aborted takeoff decision and out of the corner of my eye the airspeed jumped up, indicating your product worked as promised. The PitotShield™ activating preempted me from having to make an aborted takeoff decision and allowed me to continue the takeoff and an uneventful flight. Thank you!"

"As mentioned, I purchased the PitotShield™ at Oshkosh this past year and have been pleased with its application and now am more pleased with its design. I always protect my pitot, as I have had two blockages in the system previously when I was 'in too big of a hurry' to cover the inlet. Both times I had to take the plane in to my mechanic for repairs. On a December departure from Scholes Field in Galveston, Texas, I was departing in IMC conditions for a return trip home, and as planned, the IFR trip was uneventful. As I hangered my plane and was closing up I realized I forgot to remove the PitotShield™ on departure. I'm sure it is somewhere on runway 17 in GLS but glad I lost it (as designed) and all was safe on the flight. Thanks for the product and I don't mind paying for a new one. Look forward to seeing you again in Oshkosh."

"We recently had an airliner full of passengers take off with pitot-static discrepancies. Fortunately the crew was able to return and land safely. Upon investigation it was revealed that the pitot tube covers were still in place. Do your PitotShields work on Airliners?"