Do you smell something burning?

FORANE

FORANE

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FORANE
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It's a fowl odor...
Why is my #3 running so hot?
 
I see cowl plugs in someone's future
 
James331 said:
I see cowl plugs in someone's future
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Got 'em, now to get to using 'em instead of dropping the plane with the line guys and running.

Wouldn't have stopped all of the activity though. There was evidence that a bird had entered the lower cowl where the exhaust exits.
 
We never got them in the cowl (the baffling pretty much made that difficult for them) but they'd love to nest in the tail of the Navion. Usually they'd just build a nest where the elevator carries thorugh the tail (there's a fairly large hole there and removing the inspection plate makes it easy to get rid of the nest). Occasionally they'd enter there and then crawl through the lightening hole into vertical stab. That was more of a pain in the butt.

I got to plugging the carry through hole with a towel and hung a "Scare Eyes" beach ball thing on a piece of safety wire looped over the rotating beacon. That seemed to keep them out of the tail and discouraged them from sitting on my VOR antenna and leaving droppings on the tail as well.
 
I figured the preflight aspect would come up. Unless the cowl is removed neither the straw above the cylinders nor the straw in the lower cowl is visible - I looked. Even with the oil door open the straw in the lower cowl is not visible.
It is bird nesting season. Best to keep an eye out for them.

As for the zip ties, they were placed as a temporary solution to test an ADS-B antenna location.
 
Tom-D said:
Looks like a poor preflight inspection to me.
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I fly a Tiger (cowl opens wide open) so no problems there. I can imagine this occurring on the #4 cylinder of a C-152 and being missed trying to see it through the oil filler door.
 
Don't you know you're supposed to tear the plane apart as if it were an annual inspection for each preflight? I think that's what the resident curmudgeon is getting at.
 
EdFred said:
Don't you know you're supposed to tear the plane apart as if it were an annual inspection for each preflight? I think that's what the resident curmudgeon is getting at.
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Not at all. That bird's nest would be pretty easy to see if any one looked in the air opening in the front of the cowl. Do you look there?
 
Depnds on the cowl. Some LoPrestis you can't. Mine opens wide open.
 
Tom-D said:
Not at all. That bird's nest would be pretty easy to see if any one looked in the air opening in the front of the cowl. Do you look there?
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You mean like here? Yes, this was before removing any of the mess. With the cowl on, you cannot see the rear cylinder like you can with the top cowl removed like in this pic.
20160412_161538.jpg
 
zip ties on mounts have abraded the paint and weakened the tubular frame to the point that some have failed by cracking at the location of the zip tie.
 
Interesting, thanks. I'll make sure to check mine the next time I have it apart. I think I have some.
 
This is one reason I love having the split-cowl on my Grumman. I can open both sides and examine the entire engine compartment during pre-flight. When I was flying Cessna's, not being able to look deep inside really worried me.
 
FreqFlyrJr said:
This is one reason I love having the split-cowl on my Grumman. I can open both sides and examine the entire engine compartment during pre-flight. When I was flying Cessna's, not being able to look deep inside really worried me.
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Those difficult to preflight inspect cowls are FAA approved. Don't need to see in there....


Side note, why on earth can't they add bosecope inspection holes to engine crankcases? There are such things on so many engines why not? We must continue to live in the 1940s because that's the way they were FAA approved and it costs money to change products?
 
FreqFlyrJr said:
This is one reason I love having the split-cowl on my Grumman. I can open both sides and examine the entire engine compartment during pre-flight. When I was flying Cessna's, not being able to look deep inside really worried me.
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No argument here.
I loved my Cherokee cowl, I could do a thorough visual check of the engine compartment before flight.
With our new (to us) Cessna, we can only pray that nothing is wrong under the cowling. :(
However, I do have mostly 1/4-turn fasteners on the cowling so if she hasn't flown in a while, I will pull the top at least to inspect.
If you remember the "death-by-rat" accident, you will know what I'm talking about.
 
FORANE said:
zip ties on mounts have abraded the paint and weakened the tubular frame to the point that some have failed by cracking at the location of the zip tie.
Click to expand...
timwinters said:
Interesting, thanks. I'll make sure to check mine the next time I have it apart. I think I have some.
Click to expand...

It takes very little abrasion to wear a tube past its airworthiness limits. You don't want zip ties on engine mounts. Dirt gets under them, they vibrate, grind grind grind, and you get to buy new mounts. Not cheap.

The tubes don't have to crack to be unairworthy. Just a few thousandths ground off, and you've ruined the strength of the tube.

Use adel clamps. It's not the plastic of the zip tie that's harder than the metal, what many people get hung up on, it's the crud that gets caught underneath the plastic. The clamps tend to keep crud out of under the rubber better.

John Frank mentions this one as part of his 182 Systems course at CPA. He's seen quite a few expensive repairs caused by zip ties on tubes. Their convenience hides the damage they cause until it's too late.
 
Well I went home and in 1 weekend time the fowl critters have returned. Squatters I say!

Would this pass preflight inspection?
20160415_123825.jpg

Not a problem today as I used cowl plugs:
20160417_154045.jpg

But pulled the cowl and again found a nest:
20160417_103441.jpg

So, how do you guys prevent the birds from doing this? Better accommodations for the RV are not available - the RV lives in a bird sanctuary for now.

I have heard some stuff rags up in that lower cowl exit area, but that does not sound like something I would like to do. I have heard I might use chicken wire in that area but I am concerned it might erode surrounding components.

Any suggestions?

Here is the lower cowl exit:
20160417_104137.jpg
 
EdFred said:
Hangar cat
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Believe it or not, I've asked about that.

We aren't allowed to open the telescope door in the hangar due to risk of bird poop on the mirror. The birds live in the rafters, more or less permanently. So, why not a cat up there?

No one is interested, so it makes some nice work for me designing a star tracker image simulator to exercise the telescope with the door closed. Probably some risk of a stowaway or dead cat on the floor.
 
I take a bit of rag and wrap several mothballs in it and put a red flag and wire hook on it and hang it in the cowling from underneath. For tighter places, just setting it inside, with the flag hanging out, will work. Birds hate the mothball stink. So do mice. One in the front, one underneath should do it. Warm weather will evaporate the mothballs faster, so check them once in a while.
 
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