Clear (of flies) prop
 

Somebody suggested something the other day to me, which I think falls into the category of "somebody once heard of somebody else doing this".

Anyhow, the idea is that you spray your prop (and presumably leading edges, spats, etc) with the very fine cooking oil - one-cal is the brand name in my kitchen cupboard - after you've cleaned them. The idea is that this then tends to stop dead flies sticking too hard and makes them easy to clean off next time.

Whilst I'm sure this won't do any damage, has anybody tried it - and does it do any good?

G

Genghis

Oil may damage the plastic tape, or its adhesive, as used for leading edge protection on wooden propellors.

Fair point, but as it happens we were talking about a metal prop (sorry, should have said that).

G

Bugs
 

I carry a bucket, leather and bug-buster cloth in my flying machines. If I am touring I carry a couple of litres of water too.

If you wash the prop and leading edges etc. after every flight, the bugs come off easily.

Leave them on, especially in the sun, and you spend hours doing what would otherwise have taken you minutes if you could have been @rsed at the time.

I get my bug busters from Rise and Shine or Mick Allen Resprays at Turweston. I think Halfords may do a similar product?

For those who have never seen one, the Bug Buster is a material with the texture of felt. They are terrific for removing bugs without risk of damage to paint (use only a squeaky clean leather on transparencies.....).

Anybody know of a bulk supplier for Bug Busters?

Leathers? My local garage sells full skin leathers for seven quid! I cant imagine a bulk supplier beating that!

Seasons greetings to all.

HP

Wow... lucky you. Must be nice to have space for more than a spare bottle of oil. ;)

I wonder if any glue manufacturers have analysed the chemical composition of squashed flies.

AB

They did... and found it slightly less adhesive than dried Wheetabix.

;)

For those of you who can't be @rsed to clean the bugs off at the time. Put a small amout on of Zipwax in a bucket of warm water, soak the area affected with flies and let it soak for 2-3 minutes, then just simply wipe them off with a sponge soaked in the solution. If you're doing it on a dacron/fabric wing make sure you rinse the soap solution off properly.

:ok:

I religiously wipe a damp cloth over:

Prop
Leading edges of wings
Spats
Wing struts
Front of cowling
Windscreen

as soon as I return drom flying in the spring/summer and then run around the same areas with a chamois.

It takes 5 minutes and makes going flying in a clean plane the next time that much more of a pleasure.

Perhaps I am a sad git but it pleases me.....:8

I pay prop wash to wash and wax every 6 weeks, never seem to have a problem getting it clean......

:O

Propwash incidentally do a stunning job.

If anyone wants me to clean their aircraft in exchange for some flying ... you'd better have an interesting one. ;)

You can clean the flies off mine then!:E

My propellor reflects my kill status....and I'm Godamn' proud of it...

Merry Christmas to One and All...

Passed through a swarm of small flies in France a while back. Arrived at Le Touquet with my ATL looking like a fly-paper!
Coudn't find a bucket, so bought a packet of baby wipes and the flies came off like magic. I keep a spare packet in the aeroplane for use after each flight. Season's greetings.
MG:)

Dead flies

Diluted MER - works wonders on glider wings, the more you apply over a period of time the easier they become to clean at the end of the day - can't see why it won't work on props but Istand to be corrected.

bletchleytugie

I've never tried the cooking oil trick but I do follow Monocock's regime of a wipe down of all the bug and mud splattered areas after flight. I usually use a proprietry household polish with kitchen towel on the solid bits and a soft cloth with Plexus for the perspex.