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The pitot (peetoe) tube is a device that has a small hole in the front that allows ram air pressure to go to the airspeed indicator. Under conditions with a lot of moisture in the air, especially in fog or in clouds or in precipitation, moisture can collect in the opening and freeze, thus blocking the pitot tube and cutting off your airspeed indication (or making it wrong, which is worse).

The pitot heater prevents freezing.

Pilots simply control this by flipping a switch in the cockpit of the aircraft, usually located near the Anti-icing switches for the aircraft.

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15y ago

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