I've put together a Sig LT-40 ARF and the last thing I'm doing is installing the receiver but I've got a question about the antenna. I'm using an older Futaba radio system (Conquest) and its associated receiver has a single antenna wire approximately 38" long. I'd like to place the antenna along the length of the fuse, maybe inside of a piece of tubing. However, in that the A/C is an ARF, the fuse is enclosed, making it rather difficult to extend the antenna through the bulkheads, the full length of the fuse, to the tail section. I'm wondering if I could just coil the antenna on the cabin floor - would it still be functional? Perhaps route the antenna outside the fuse and cover it over with Monocote? Would it still work during flight (everything works fine on the ground with the antenna wire coiled up)? How did people deal with the single wire antenna associated with these older systems?

1. NEVER coil an antenna. For the antenna to work properly, it must be stretched out to its full length
2. Is your Conquest post-1990 or "Gold stickered"? If it isn't either of those, it's not legal for you to use in the US. I have a channel 48 Conquest that works perfectly fine, but I can't use it since it's a 1986 model. As to the question of "Why can't I use it?", in 1991, the FCC reduced the band width allowed from a wide band of 80+ KHz previously allowed down to narrow band of 40KHz. Any radio that was not updated within a certain period of time(mine wasn't due to lack of funds) became illegal to operate.

As for how to route an antenna, there were normally two ways used:

1. Run the antenna out the top of the cabin and attached to the top of the tail in some way. This would be the easiest in your case
2. Run the antenna through the fuse and out at the rear through the elevator pushrod opening. The question in your case is are the bulkheads solid or are they just frames the stringers are attached to? If they are solid, it would be very difficult to route the antenna through the fuse