Check for those birds!

Banjo33

Banjo33

Line Up and Wait
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Banjo33
This post is as much a gripe as it is a warning. Perfect weather today, so I put myself on the schedule at the local flight school. Finally made it out to the plane (an hour late b/c the Manager was late), but found the fuel tank nearly empty. After calling for the fuel truck, I elected to go ahead and finish the preflight. I've made it a habit to lightly tap the empennage with an open hand as I walk around the airplane. Lo and behold, on the first tap, I hear banging coming from tail. Suddenly, two birds fly out by the rudder. I looked inside the tail and could see straw. So I tell the Mgr that birds are nesting inside his airplane. He hands me a piece of wire that resembles a clothes hangar with a hook on the end and tells me to fish out the straw. After an hour of digging, I think I pretty much got it all out. He told me that he'd cleaned one out yesterday, I'm doubtful he got it all out though. Anyway, as I finished, the fuel truck pulled up (an hour after calling it). It was too bad though, as after 2 1/2 hours after my scheduled departure time, my morning had passed and I needed to get back home to the family. Long story short, I've added "look deep inside the tail" to my preflight inspection...just in case.

This pic shows about 3/4 of the straw. A bunch was blown across the ramp from the breeze.
 

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And this time of year especially, watch for these!

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Crap that's a lot of straw. That plane needs to get flown more. No bird problems in my hanger, only mud daubers.
 
I evicted two birds and their two nests from my dryer vent last week. Dryer works much better now.
 
Great tip, I will definitely be checking for nests on my next pre-flight.
 
I've found they love the cowl, probably because the engine is warm. One day without the cowl plugs and you'd find a nest on top of the cylinders.
 
It was very customer service oriented of the manager to ask you to do his maintenance for free. I'd be tempted to hand the hook back to him with instructions.
 
It is amazing how much they can haul in and in a very short amount of time.


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fiveoboy01 said:
I've found they love the cowl, probably because the engine is warm. One day without the cowl plugs and you'd find a nest on top of the cylinders.
Click to expand...

There was a huge problem with the birds last year at the place I was learning to fly. They were seeding some grass pretty close to the planes, so there was a virtually unlimited source of straw for the birds. They'd pick an airplane and stick with it, no matter how much it flew. I was getting checked out in one of the 172s and the Skycatcher, and they picked the Skycatcher in particular. They LOVED the cowl of that plane, and they were always in the same place right in the back of the cowling. They'd be in there every day, no matter how often the plane flew. At one point the flight school cleaned it out for me just before my flight, but by the time I was out preflighting, I saw a bird putting some more straw into the cowl.
 
Sounds like a shop vac with the hose on a stick would have been a better choice of tools.

Is it time to hang a fake snake or fake owl near the hole?

Jim
 
write-stuff said:
And this time of year especially, watch for these!
Click to expand...

We have more than one of those circling here near the airport.

I just watched what looked like a 25 pound turkey perching on the peak of the roof across the street. Prolly was a goose.
 
mikea said:
We have more than one of those circling here near the airport.

I just watched what looked like a 25 pound turkey perching on the peak of the roof across the street. Prolly was a goose.
Click to expand...

I saw a 172 that hit a buzzard in the wing about 12 years ago. Took full rudder to keep it level and get it on the ground. After removing the carcass, a hole the size of a basket ball remained in the leading edge of the wing. A mechanic flew it back to it's home airport and reported that it flew just fine with the mammoth hole in the wing. The damage was significant.
 
Blatham489 said:
It was very customer service oriented of the manager to ask you to do his maintenance for free. I'd be tempted to hand the hook back to him with instructions.
Click to expand...

Eh, hanging around airplanes (preferably flying them) is my therapy and I was happy to help!
 
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