Others have a dedicated ground wire that is run to a grounding station.Īntennas that use the aircraft skin as a ground need a clean surface between the base and skin otherwise the increased electrical resistance causes poor reception and transmission from the antenna. Some antennas use a bond between the antenna base and the airframe skin to ground the antenna to the airframe itself.
Different antennas ground in different ways. Antennas need a negative electrical ground in order to operate correctly. One of the biggest causes of degraded performance is corrosion that forms between the aircraft skin and the antenna base. Belly-mounted antennas face even more abuse, as they inevitably accumulate a layer of sludge from the engine breather and are more likely to get chipped from debris during ground operations. This can lead to antenna cracks or delamination. Antennas are also subject to vibration, depending on where they are mounted and how securely the antenna base is fastened to the airframe. Of course, rain, snow, and sleet take their toll too, eventually causing erosion on the leading edges. Not only are they subjected to strong winds on each and every flight, but they get pummeled by bugs during the summer months as well. Obviously, airplane antennas take a lot of abuse. In fact, radio transmission problems, background noise, erratic signal reception, and a host of other squawks blamed on the radio units, are actually caused by an antenna malfunction. Some of the most important – though often overlooked – components of these systems are the antennas through which information used by these units is transmitted and received. Under the Cowling “BREAKING UP” with your Radio? Not so fast…your antenna might be the real problem!Īircraft owners typically invest a lot of money in avionics equipment for their planes, and other than an engine overhaul, there is usually no greater expense for owners than the time and money spent on radio upgrades and repairs.
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