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Ed,

You asked, "Should I be thinking of mounting the pitot tube with a
metal flange on a 8"x8" metal plate to dissipate some of the heat or are
my concerns unwarranted?"

I should have mentioned that the experience with melting Nylaflow I
related was with a heated pitot on a Thorp T-18, an aluminum airplane. So I can't give first-hand experience in the LN2 styles.  But as I
related the experience of my A&E certainly gave me pause  -- burning the
chrome off of a heated pitot tube is extremely hot.  He described it as
leaving scars on your hand even if you just brush it.  My gut feel is
that it will easily soften epoxy construction.  If our plane wasn't
already built, I would certainly entertain a heat-sink plate such as you
envision.  Another thought would be to do a simple experiment.  Take the pitot and
mount it on a scrap of epoxy/glass comparable to the intended mounting
position/method.  Fire up the pitot from a storage battery (or car
jumper cables) whichever comes easier and see what happens!  Not
elegant, but certainly will answer the question convincingly.  If the
results are frightening, report back to the list, and the list can start
thinking "retrofit." Regards,
Chas
N360JM

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