Birds on the wires.

[farri]

I put a new set of wires and skins on my Drifter a few months back and the birds getting into it`s shed just loved those top wires but I got sick of washing bird crap off the wings.

 

I decided to apply a good coat of multi purpose grease to the top wires and no more bird crap,they don`t like greasy feet and find it hard to hang on.

 

This protects the wires, but if in dusty conditions, dust will adhere to the grease and will need to be cleaned off from time to time, however, I prefer this to bird crap and I don`t need to muck around removing wing covers when I want to fly,which is often.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[BigPete]

Looks like you've found the right tweetment Frank.

 

(couldn't help myself). :big_grin:

 

regards

 

:big_grin::big_grin:

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Try hanging a couple of models of owls and hawks in the hanger that will keep them away

 

 

[farri]

Ozzi,

 

I`ve seen replica owls hanging on boats and I`ve always wondered if the realy work.

 

Big pete,

 

Absolutely hated doing it my self but in frustration I thought this would work untill I came up with something better, and it has.

 

Frank.

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Shoot em' Frank !!

 

 

[Tomo]

Shoot em' Frank !!

Just don't put the lead through the wire!!!;)

 

 

[Rotaryman]

Plastic Owls

 

Hi Frank,

 

I can advise that you can purchase a plastic owl from Australian Geographic stores for approx $25, I use one for scaring the hell out of those pesky possums and it does work, not so sure how it would work on those feathered types though? maybe worth a try and remember to continue to relocate the owl as the birds will get used to it otherwise.

 

 

 

[Ultralights]

owl cutouts only work on starlings for about a week before the smart little buggers figure out the owl never moves.

 

also a beed of clear sealant along the top of the vertical tail helps keep birds off as well.

 

 

[boleropilot]

them damned birds !!! - well, one variety anyway...

 

first i gotta say upfront, i love birds - i've even shared a thermal with a wedgetailed eagle when i was flying paragliders, my best bird encounter ever

 

and the little fairy wrens that inhabit the shrubs around my workshed, both blueys and black/reds, just gorgeous little creatures - and watching pelicans fly along just inches above the water - Wow...

 

but willy *%^&$ing wagtails - they really ring my bell !!! they have crapped all over my Drifter in its little hangar at Roadvale, and the fact that she's a wire-braced model makes covers a real nightmare to fit/remove

 

i've tried xmas decorations and plastic hawks and twirling reflective thingos and CDs and i think the little b/w mongrels actually shat on those as well !!!

 

i will be spending some time up a ladder soon stringing fishing line along the beams they like to AIM from, and i will try some grease in certain places as well, but not on the wires, not keen on that idea

 

if that doesn't stop the problem then it will be lead poisoning for sure....but i might have a closer look at some roll-on covers that go over the wings, working on that design, four separate ones that go on between the wires, rolled down the wing from the leading edge - might just work

 

btw, anyone know of a good company for making up cockpit/engine covers??

 

boleropilot

 

 

[farri]

Hey Guys,Gota tell you,the grease worked...................But only untill it dried up a bit.

 

You should have seen the bird crap I washed off the wing,over the weekend,got it nice and clean,treated it with UV protector and thought........ " Bugger the grease,won`t work for long and I`ll just get greasy hands"

 

I also get moths,laying eggs on the inside of the roof and they crap all over the AC as well,much smaller crap but makes a mess and stains just the same,regularly treating the fabric with UV protector does make it easier to clean,it appears the only real solution is, a totaly sealed shed.

 

:gerg: May all your flights be joyfull and may the birds treat you kindly.:robin:

 

Frank.

 

 

[dazza 38]

We had a similar problem at home with birds.We where told to use a rubber snake.It worked for a while, but the birds eventualy relized the snake was fake.(it was good to scare the **** out of visitors lol.) We moved it around, from time to time, but Birds are clever little suckers.

 

 

[robinsm]

I have problems with birds in the hanger I rent in Goulburn. I just cover the plane in old bed sheets and wash them every so often to get rid of the bird crap. There is a product called "hotfoot" that some factories use to put along the tops of beams etc that the birds hate. I have used silastic along the tops of beams in the hanger with some success.

 

 

[Guest Walter Buschor]

Connect the wires to an electric fence unit. ( don't know how the fuel will like it though )

 

 

[Tomo]

Connect the wires to an electric fence unit. ( don't know how the fuel will like it though )

I hope you were joking Walter...

 

Because unless the birds are earthed out, they ain't gonna get the shock!

 

 

[Tomo]

"rat shot" in the .22 works well.....

The side affects can be quite dramatic though... dints in alum, or holes in fabric!

 

 

[boleropilot]

yeah the old lead poisoning is a thought, i know someone who has an air r##le

 

but i reckon it will end up being the strips of sheets rolled up with a piece of 1" dowel at each end

 

cut to the width i need (two sets of wires each side of the top of the wing) and just roll 'em down the wing from the front

 

then a bungee on each under the wing to hold 'em in place

 

and hey i don't need rubber snakes, i got real ones!

 

i've been chased out of that hangar by a huge Eastern Brown - you should see how i do my preflight inspections now...

 

(Drifter is an open aircraft - no doors and lots of places for a big hairy a##ed Joe Blake to hide)

 

imagine wunna those mongrels popping his head out from under the seat at 2,000 feet.................

 

i wonder if there's somewhere for an emergency landing at the Boonah hospital???

 

nurse 1 to nurse 2 "look at that, not a mark on him - wait a minute, what are those two little red dots on his leg ????"

 

watch this space...

 

bp

 

 

[Spin]

Nice one bp, now I've got to clean the keyboard after I snorted my coffee all over it!

 

I hadn't considered the snakes on a plane scenario, I'd probably save it the trouble of biting me and just die of heart failure. The mongrels do have some bad habits though, years ago a couple of mates and I were kayaking on a lake, when suddenly one of them veered off to a nearby shallow area and somehow levitated out of a tight kayak cockpit and straight up into a willow tree. Turned out a small snake had been woken by the rocking n rolling in the boat and had appeared between his legs! You can imagine that he copped a fair amount of abuse, until it dawned on one of us that the snake's mates might have taken up residence in any one of our kayaks too - they had all been stored together in a shed. Our "preflight" inspections became a lot more rigorous after that.

 

 

[brilin_air]

The best way we have found to stop birds in the hangar is to distribute moth balls around the hangar up in the rafters and where the birds get in around the doors it seems to work

 

To Boleropilot there is a firm called Pumpkin head that makes all kinds of covers for all kinds of planes they are located at Yarrawonga airport and do a very nice job.

 

Brian

 

 

[farri]

True Stories.

 

[quote=boleropilot;229640 i've been chased out of that hangar by a huge Eastern Brown - you should see how i do my preflight inspections now...

 

(Drifter is an open aircraft - no doors and lots of places for a big hairy a##ed Joe Blake to hide) bp

 

It happened way back when, with the copy of the Chinook WT2 that I built and started flying in.

 

Early morning,been up for a while,came down,walked away a couple of paces for a leak,turned around to get back in and here was 2 feet of snake hanging out of the leading edge spar,directly above the front seat,would have been on my shoulders had I been sitting in it.

 

Snakes and me just don`t mix but I`m ok as long as they keep going the other way,anyhow,as soon as it saw me it went straight back inside, S**t, I thought,what am I gunnado now,I started banging on the tube behind where I thought it would be and fortunately it came out,after that,I pluged the tube.

 

A guy who was one of our club members,got into the air in his light wing and out from under the seat comes a snake,he was able to go back and land without being bitten but was terribly unnerved.

 

Had a guy in the front seat of the Drifter,I was in the back,we`d just got about 20 feet in the air when a rat that must have been inside the front,in the opening behind the instruments,where you can`t get at or inspect,decided to go for a run,it came running along the tube towards me,looked at me,turned around,tried to run back and I`ve no idea where it got to.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[boleropilot]

g'day Brian

 

might have a look into the moth balls, if i remember right the main ingredient is something like napthalene flakes ?

 

and hey thanks about the punkinhead info, saw one of their ads recently and was meaning to get in touch for cockpit/engine covers

 

cheers

 

BP

 

 

[boleropilot]

LMAO here Farri !!!

 

seems there's cobras running around the commonwealth games vanues too - what fun !

 

hey just thought, that's gotta give ya added impetus for your chosen sport...look behind - see the cobra - GO !!!!

 

BP

 

 

[facthunter]

pre-flight.

 

At Mudgee years ago I was walking around an Auster a couple of us were going to blow the cobwebs out of and I noticed some pale looking dust just below the door on the grass. Had a look inside the wing where it attaches to the fuse and the spar was nearly eaten away by RATS.. Nev

 

 

[dazza 38]

I have been told, but never tried it myself.That snakes will not cross sump oil.Or any oil or ash.The oil sticks to their scales.Even when it soaks into the gound. Apart from upsetting Bob Brown and his tree hugger mates.It might be worth while, To try it across enterances etc.

 

 

[jordy]

Living in the sub tropics we manage to attract an amazing array of varmits into protected area (sheds, hangers, planes) including a great influx of carpet snakes.

 

I've had the odd marsupial rat jump out while taxiing and wondered at the time if a rat can get in the pan what about the the thing that eats him??.......... Try taking off with this in the fore front of your mind.

 

So it goes with out saying that most engine warm ups now are exceeding long hoping to shake the sh......t out of anything that might bite.

 

 

[farri]

I`ve got a little female dog, ****su,(probably spelt wrong),poodle cross and every time I go flying,she`ll waite behind the AC when I fire up, to catch anything that might jump out.

 

Frank.

 

Ps,This is downright ridiculous,I just wrote the name of the breed,Shi*tsu, and **** was inserted, what the F****** hell are we coming to???????