Handy airplane tips I've heard and now use.

John Baker

John Baker

Final Approach
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John Baker
Lemon Pledge on the leading edges for Indian country fliers, it really works for keeping the bugs off, and those that stick, come off a lot easier.

"The California duster" A friend told me about this one. It is a paraffin treated rag mop looking thing with a plastic handle and case for under $20.00. It is an auto supply store item. This is fantastic for knocking off that dust that accumulates all over your plane. It gets into those structural indentations easily. Takes just a minute or so to clean my Warrior.

It will not get dust that has embedded itself into the wax coating, just the surface dirt.

Another hot one, if you are in the San Diego area. I have a guy that washes and waxes my plane once a month for $60.00. He clayed my entire plane and waxed it for $250.00. Does a great job. Let me know if you are interested.

John
 
You forgot the plumbers heat tape on the leading edges of the wings to deice.







:D
 
ooh ooh ooh! How about garden soaker hose, duct taped to the leading edge, attached to a jug of Mad Dog? Weeping wing de-ice system!
 
A lot of the cropdusters I worked with would use Lemon Pledge on their windscreens to make bug removal easier. Much cheaper than actual 'plexiglass polish' and you get the fresh lemony scent to help cover up the alluring odor of Malathion in the hopper. :)
 
CJones said:
A lot of the cropdusters I worked with would use Lemon Pledge on their windscreens to make bug removal easier. Much cheaper than actual 'plexiglass polish' and you get the fresh lemony scent to help cover up the alluring odor of Malathion in the hopper. :)
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At Gaston's I was sent out to get Lemon Pledge for some radial taildragger. :smile:
 
John Baker said:
Gosh, here I was fishing for more great ideas and all I catch is a couple of clown fish.

John
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I am very sorry John. Didn't realize that some humor would upset you.

Here's a real tip. Water hasn't touched my plane in 8 years unless I've been caught in some showers in flight or while sitting at some far flung ramp away from my hangar. I use Wash Wax All to clean the entire plane including plexi and belly grease. The Blue regular strength for everything except I use the Red "heavy duty" for the belly grease. Works great!

Tiger specific - I stole this from Ron Levy who uses pipe cleaners folded into a V to seal the under wing, gas tank vents which sometimes get bugs crawling in which clogs them.
 
I probably should have put one of those smiley face things after my last post. I didn't intend to sound upset, just trying to get it going in the direction I was hoping for.

I'm kind of a newbie to this flying stuff, I own my own plane. Anything I can learn from others is valued. It's the little things that you don't find in books is what, I guess, I am trying to shake out of you more seasoned pilots and aircraft owners.

Like the garden soaker hose, duct taped to the leading edge, as a home made de-icer system. I thought that was great. The problem I seem to be having is my duct tape won't stick to all that lemon pledge. I've been messing with it all morning.

John :)
 
I took your post as humor ... "clown fish" made me chuckle! :)

Sorry, I got nut'n ...
 
That's us, always joking around!
As for the tips,...cleaning tips or maintenance and improving longevity tips too?
 
Here's one even non-airplane owners can use: When you're stuck on a ramp somewhere without an open FBO and their oil funnels, you can pull out the dipstick and pour the oil down the dipstick to keep from spilling half of it on your engine. :yes:
 
John Baker said:
Like the garden soaker hose, duct taped to the leading edge, as a home made de-icer system. I thought that was great. The problem I seem to be having is my duct tape won't stick to all that lemon pledge. I've been messing with it all morning.

John :)
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Doesn't that fly off the wing at about 50 Knots?
 
When waxing the plane, get a little wax on an almost dry soft rag and go over the windows with it. Water beads up and runs off when it's raining and bugs come off easily. Works great on ground vehicles and motorcycles (including visors) also.


kgruber said:
Doesn't that fly off the wing at about 50 Knots?
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Duct tape has no durability or strength.
Use gaffers tape. It's strong and sticks to everything..and comes off afterward without leaving a mess.
 
fgcason said:
When waxing the plane, get a little wax on an almost dry soft rag and go over the windows with it. Water beads up and runs off when it's raining and bugs come off easily.
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Some plastic cleaning products include wax or something similar for this very purpose but I'd be careful using car wax or furniture polish on the plexiglass. For one thing many contain a coarse enough abrasive to damage the surface and some might contain liquids that will attack the plastic and/or cause long term damage such as crazing.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Take a few moments to clean the build-up off all the shock struts periodically. The grit that clings there will eat up your seals.
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And it's best if you wipe them down with the same hydraulic fluid inside the struts. That leaves them lightly lubricated and extends the seal life.
 
I should have mentioned that good idea works for most parts of the US. (In dry country we don't leave anything with exposed lubricant - it gets a coat of dust and then you are back where you started in 24hrs.)
RH=13% here today and we are in rainy season!
 
Check the battery fluid (if you have flooded cell type) about every 3 weeks. Takes a minute; is often neglected; if they dry out it shortens their lifespan.
 
Leaning.

CFI's teach someone how to fly a plane, they don't usually teach about operating a plane.

I lean aggressively on the ground and in the air and my Tiger's plugs never foul. Plus, it saves fuel flying high and leaning. Its a simple thing to do, but it always surprises me how often some forget.
 
I think most (?all?) of the RV guys do this:

If you have wheel pants that make it difficult to remove the valve stem cap to check air pressure, cut a piece of 3/8" ID (check actual ID to match your valve stem cap) stiff rubber hose to about 6" long. We're using some leftover hose from SOMEWHERE in the build process. If you don't over-tighten your valve cap, you can squeeze the hose on over the cap and twist it off without having to try to get needle nose pliers or fingers in there to get it off. You can also use the host to put it back on easily.
 
gismo said:
Some plastic cleaning products include wax or something similar for this very purpose but I'd be careful using car wax or furniture polish on the plexiglass. For one thing many contain a coarse enough abrasive to damage the surface and some might contain liquids that will attack the plastic and/or cause long term damage such as crazing.
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A pure carnuba should be fine.
 
Haven't flown in a few weeks, can't for a while longer?
Move the airplane about a foot. Avoids those flat spots on the tires. "bumpbumpbump-whassat?"
 
It is supposed to be good to cycle all your resettable cbs a couple of times a year. Same with rarely used switches. Cleans the oxidization off the contacts.
 
Anthony said:
Leaning.

CFI's teach someone how to fly a plane, they don't usually teach about operating a plane.

I lean aggressively on the ground and in the air and my Tiger's plugs never foul. Plus, it saves fuel flying high and leaning. Its a simple thing to do, but it always surprises me how often some forget.
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They don't teach that because many (most?) of them don't know.

Yes, leaning until you almost kill the engine on the ground is a great thing. Besides preventing all that stuff building up on your valves and in your cylinders, it also stops you if you try to take off with a partially leaned mixture. This actually happened during my latest FR (oops). Full power, engine stutters, you go full rich, problem solved, potential problems avoided!
 
wabower said:
Somehow I always think a carnuba is something you find listed under erotic services.
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Yeah, well, we're talking airplanes. I doubt the girls have ever heard of an airnuba.
 
Best wax I've found is Collinite 845 for my Cherokee. I went through several other brands before I tried this stuff. I guess they used it back in the day to wax the glass electrical insulators on power lines. (I don't know why) Make sure your plane is clean first or you will have shiny glossed over bug goo.
 
John Baker said:
Gosh, here I was fishing for more great ideas and all I catch is a couple of clown fish.

John
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Use Collenite 845 Insulator Wax on everything that isn't fabric, great window cleaner, and the easiest way to clean any window or mirror.
 
Henning said:
Use Collenite 845 Insulator Wax on everything that isn't fabric, great window cleaner, and the easiest way to clean any window or mirror.
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Lemon pledge works great on motorcycle windscreens too. Dives that nice lemony smell as you cruise down the road.
 
silver-eagle said:
Lemon pledge works great on motorcycle windscreens too. Dives that nice lemony smell as you cruise down the road.
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Pledge is way more work to get streak/smear free than Collenite (also more expensive, Collenite goes a really long way). I've been cleaning windows for 40 years now, I've tried it all, Collenite insulator wax is by far the best lasting, easy to use, window and polished surface cleaner and wax that I have ever come across, and that is from working in the car, aircraft, and yacht industries. It's the same on anything that isn't cloth.
 
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> "Collenite insulator wax is by far the best lasting, easy to use, window and polished surface cleaner and wax that I have ever come across . . ."

I see it comes in a paste-wax type can or a liquid-type bottle. Which is best, or does it make any difference?

And thanks to those who mentioned this product. I'd never heard of it 'till now.
 
I put clear plastic tubes on my fuel vents about two inches long. If a mud dobber builds a nest in there, I will see it in preflight and remove it. Without the tube the wasp may build it's nest in the vent tube.
 
I use collinite 845 once a year and after every flight I take a wet rag to my leading edges and the bugs just wipe right off.
 
gismo said:
And it's best if you wipe them down with the same hydraulic fluid inside the struts. That leaves them lightly lubricated and extends the seal life.
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5606 fluid has a bad habit of drying to a very gummy film in short order. It gathers dust and eats up those seals and scraper rings, and in cold weather it will roll the O-ring and cause a spiral fracture of it. You lose all the fluid.

I wipe the strut clean and leave it dry. There's fluid behind the seals that will lubricate it as it moves.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Check the battery fluid (if you have flooded cell type) about every 3 weeks. Takes a minute; is often neglected; if they dry out it shortens their lifespan.
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Actually, I found that Cessna's 30-day electrolyte level check was way too fussy. I was able to get the maintenance schedule approved for a flight school's airplanes to check it every 90 days, and never found dry plates.

Overcharging will dry them out.

I would fill them to reach halfway between the tops of the plates and the bottom of the split ring, unless the battery was actively charging and bubbling as per Gill's ICAs. Filling it to the ring when it's just sitting in the airplane will make it overflow when it charges and you end up with acid everywhere, and what looks like a low electrolyte level the next time you check. You lose acid and add water and guess what happens to the strength of the acid after a while?
 
MikeS said:
> "Collenite insulator wax is by far the best lasting, easy to use, window and polished surface cleaner and wax that I have ever come across . . ."

I see it comes in a paste-wax type can or a liquid-type bottle. Which is best, or does it make any difference?

And thanks to those who mentioned this product. I'd never heard of it 'till now.
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Liquid is by far easier to work with than the paste if you are working by hand. Use a damp (I soak it, squeeze it to a slow drip and call it good and allows you to create a real thin coat) microfiber applicator pad and just put a quarter sized dollop halfway on one side, fold it over and spread it around then start applying.

If I'm using a buffer to apply, the paste works slightly better and more economically, but it wouldn't be my choice to keep in the plane.

As far as the wax itself, same.
 
Dan Thomas said:
5606 fluid has a bad habit of drying to a very gummy film in short order. It gathers dust and eats up those seals and scraper rings, and in cold weather it will roll the O-ring and cause a spiral fracture of it. You lose all the fluid.

I wipe the strut clean and leave it dry. There's fluid behind the seals that will lubricate it as it moves.
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Agree, for a plane that gets used, it's best to just keep the struts clean. If you really want to put something on them for storage, LPS3 is my go to because it forms a non sticky shell that dust and dirt doesn't cling to. Struts are heavily chromed, they don't corrode easily.
 
John Baker said:
Lemon Pledge on the leading edges for Indian country fliers, it really works for keeping the bugs off, and those that stick, come off a lot easier.

"The California duster" A friend told me about this one. It is a paraffin treated rag mop looking thing with a plastic handle and case for under $20.00. It is an auto supply store item. This is fantastic for knocking off that dust that accumulates all over your plane. It gets into those structural indentations easily. Takes just a minute or so to clean my Warrior.

It will not get dust that has embedded itself into the wax coating, just the surface dirt.

Another hot one, if you are in the San Diego area. I have a guy that washes and waxes my plane once a month for $60.00. He clayed my entire plane and waxed it for $250.00. Does a great job. Let me know if you are interested.

John
Click to expand...

I us ed pledge on the leading edges of my stearman. I was told later that it has silicone in it which is very tough to deal with if you have to repaint a surface with pledge on it. At any rate it worked great, saved a lot of work.
 
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