Chasing Out Wasps

MBDiagMan

MBDiagMan

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Don't know if this is the best place for this highly technical aviation subject, but maybe someone can help.

I just bought a plane from Kerrville, Texas. Been hangared there since it was built there. Beautiful aircraft, but it was not flown real often and sat in the hangar for periods. I have flown it a lot with no trouble until a warm day last Friday when just after lifting off the Runway a passenger appeared that I had not considered in the weight and balance calculations.

It appears that there is a wasps nest in the headliner or vent system. I could spray some insecticide in there, but I am afraid of causing a corrosion problem. The old Mooney expert that did the prebuy and annual on the airplane said it was the most corrosion free plane from the sixties that he has seen, so I would like to keep it that way.

My local mechanic on the field suggested a bunch of moth balls and open it enough to allow them to leave as they choose.

Any suggestions?

Thanks very much for your help!
 
I'd be worried that the moth balls could cause more problems with corrosion/etc than the insecticide would. Can you see where they enter/exit? Can you see the nest? If yes, I'd try a non-chemical method, like maybe sucking them up with a shop vac.
 
tawood said:
If yes, I'd try a non-chemical method, like maybe sucking them up with a shop vac.
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+1, in addition to the corrosion, I wouldn't want to be breathing insecticides.
 
Here is an article with a few suggestions:
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Wasps

I had a wasp in the Bo that I just couldn't catch or coax out, so I got a dust buster out of the car and sucked him up and released it outside.

WD-40 is apparently helpful, and I don't think it would hurt the aluminum.
Wasps also hate pepermint oil. If you try either of these, it might help to park the plane in that texas sun for a while with the doors open. the heat will increase the odors and maybe encourage the wasps to leave.

Unless you pull the headliner, that (or something similar) may be the best you can do. Then at the next annual, I'd have them pull the headliner and do a more permanent removal.
 
Could fly up north for a weekend and let it sit in sub-freezing temps...
 
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Most WASPs were chased out of the big cities. Find out how that was done and repeat.
 
Vent system - shop vac for an hour or two.
Behind the headliner - drop the headliner and suck the nest out with the shop vac.

Just gonna have to dig until you find the nest - can you hear them buzz? What if you start thumping against the headliner to stir them up?
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Vent system - shop vac for an hour or two.
Behind the headliner - drop the headliner and suck the nest out with the shop vac.

Just gonna have to dig until you find the nest - can you hear them buzz? What if you start thumping against the headliner to stir them up?
Click to expand...
In that case, you better be ready to run; fast and far.
 
When I saw the title, for a second I was hoping you were talking about these...

5489a525a6b040530ea6e885174e2b64.jpg
 
Check out Pyretrhum

What Is Pyrethrum?
One of the oldest pesticides known, pyrethrum is also the strongest insecticide allowed under National Organic Standards guidelines. Made from the dried flowers of a little white daisy now classified as Tanacetum cinerariifolium, pyrethrum insecticides are known for their fast knock-down of unwanted insects. Insects typically become paralyzed as soon as they come into contact with pyrethrum, so it’s often used in wasp sprays. Pyrethrum use in the garden should be undertaken with care and only after cultural methods that might manage a pest have been exhausted. Pyrethrum insecticides are highly toxic to bees, wasps and other beneficial insects, as well as to fish.​

http://www.motherearthnews.com/orga...rol/make-organic-pyrethrum-spray-zw0z1304zkin
 
Blow them out with CO2 and using shop vac as mention above if in the ventilation system.

If there is low risk of damaging interior materials hose them down with Corrosion X or ACF50
 
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labbadabba said:
Could fly up north for a weekend and let it sit in sub-freezing temps...
Click to expand...

That would kill them, that's for sure...

You have to find the nest and figure out how to remove it.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Just accept the fact that you are going to get tagged once or twice...
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For me, that would be a problem. One wasp sting and my arm looks like a football, or my had looks like a softball. Not to mention that a wasp sting feels like a gunshot wound.
For some the reaction could be worse, up to and including death.

But for most people, your advice is fine. My wife, who has virtually no pain threshold (anything hurts her), a wasp sting is about like a mosquito bite.

And here I am, a Ga. Tech Yellow Jacket fan. (For those that don't know, yellow jackets are wasps, not bees).
 
Put on a hooded mountain parka and wear ski googles and gloves. Tape the wrists. Spray with wasp killer. Vacuum with shop vac.
 
GeorgeC said:
What you need is a fire:
http://bacon.modacity.net/stuff/lollin/BEES.htm
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Exiting the runway at KDTO one day on to A4, ground control advised me to keep my window and door shut. A large swarm of bees had decided to take over one of the blue taxiway lights just ahead of the intersection of A4 and Bravo. The swarm easily increased the diameter of that light by 5-6 inches.
 
Maybe like Mythbusters Episode 77, Pigeons in a Truck, you get the wasps flying at the same time, lightening the aircraft, and decreasing the takeoff roll and increasing your climb rate!
 
Bill Jennings said:
+1, in addition to the corrosion, I wouldn't want to be breathing insecticides.
Click to expand...
I'd be more concerned about breathing those compounds than the concern below

tawood said:
I'd be worried that the moth balls could cause more problems with corrosion/etc than the insecticide would. Can you see where they enter/exit? Can you see the nest? If yes, I'd try a non-chemical method, like maybe sucking them up with a shop vac.
Click to expand...
Mothballs are camphor or naphthalene or 1,4-dichlorobenzene. Non-corrosive, but not very nice for us to breathe.
 
they are mud daubers .try to find out how they are getting in the hangar an fix.i just let them build nest in hangar an do not disturb it so they stat out of aircraft
 
hotprops said:
they are mud daubers .try to find out how they are getting in the hangar an fix.i just let them build nest in hangar an do not disturb it so they stat out of aircraft
Click to expand...

Mud daubers are pretty harmless and I found they serve a VERY useful purpose: They kill spiders, especially black widows. We had a our house and garage renovated 2 summers ago, so the garage was open and very cluttered for several weeks. During that time, the mud daubers built lots of nests, and so did black widows. I tried to kill all the daubers and spiders I could find, but that was hard to do with all the clutter and commotion. It wasn't long before I started finding 1 or 2 paralyzed black widows per day. They were still alive, but they lay on the cement paralyzed until they died. It finally dawned on me that it must be the daubers stinging the spiders. Sure enough, after a Google search, it was confirmed. I quit killing the daubers thereafter - I considered them my ally because I friggin' hate spiders!
 
I had to take off at sunrise this morning and fly to Grand Prairie due to an issue with my 93 year old Mom. I had no choice besides flying with the wasps. If they came along for the ride, they never made their presence known. I ordered three fake Hornets nests. One for each hangar and another for my shop at home. Maybe I won't see the unwelcome passengers again.

Thanks for all your suggestions. If I see or learn more I will post it here.
 
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