A Better Way to Protect Your Receiver Antennas
After years on the flying field, I feel like I’ve seen just about every kind of antenna installation gone wrong: antennas dangling loose, kinked, bent, or pointing in no particular direction.
There are a few fairings available to help hold antennas in place, but most of them don’t offer much real protection. That matters, especially when handling, transporting, and storing sailplanes, where exposed antennas often take the most abuse.
I originally designed a fairing very similar to the new WingBones Whisker Fairing years ago for my own planes. I was never comfortable with simply poking an antenna wire through a hole in a carbon fiber fuselage and hoping for the best. Every time I put my planes into their transport bags, I found myself worrying about damaging the antennas.
At the time, I was also using an antenna style with a larger-diameter cylinder at the base to help improve range. That led to the first internally mounted fairing design, with a cylindrical receptacle to support and protect the antenna more securely.
The new WingBones Whisker Fairing is a refined version of that original idea. It is more flexible, more resilient, compatible with a broader range of antenna designs, and designed to install easily with a clean, professional-looking result.
My hope is that this product helps you get your antenna setup under control with minimal hassle, so you can spend less time worrying about mangled antennas pointing who-knows-where — and more time simply flying.
Randy West
Owner, West Vector Solutions LLC & WingBones.com
