While flying last weekend a wasp blew out of my air vent. Tiny pieces of clay went flying all over, then the nest fell in my lap. Luckily there weren't any wasps, but it still surprised me. I may or may not have let a few choice words slip out Also added two good landings from the flight to the video... wish they could all be that good (for me).

I got stung on the ear by a wasp the other weekend. It was protecting a paper nest they'd made under the refuel ladder at Winchester.

Hurt like hell, I felt lightning bolts travel through my jaw! Took a week for the swelling to go down, too. And I'm not allergic!

My flight instructor and I had a wasp crawl out of somewhere and start flying around in the cockpit. I remarked that I know several people that would be unable to fly a plane if they had a wasp/bee flying around inside and he casually mentioned that a quick climb usually puts them into a torpor which give a chance to kill them.

We never tried it, but I'm waiting for another wasp to test that theory.

These are good insurance for wasps!

So... put steel wool in the vent to keep wasps out... if a wasp gets in climb quick as I can... and don't get stung in the ear... got it!

Thanks for all the sound advice


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Send me into a bar fight, but dont let there be hornets or wasps in my plane... it has immediate precautionary written all over it! Lol


Rod Hilton
Kincardine, Ontario, Canada
C-FKJJ

Tapatalk Pro

TangoFox wrote:These are good insurance for wasps!

Seen both metallic and plastic "scrubbies" in the wing root vent before--
what's that do to airflow?
Not enough air comes in on a hot day as it is.
Maybe better to just cover (tape over) the vents when parked (outside).

rodhilton wrote:Send me into a bar fight, but dont let there be hornets or wasps in my plane... it has immediate precautionary written all over it! Lol


Rod Hilton
Kincardine, Ontario, Canada
C-FKJJ

Tapatalk Pro

Not sure what I would have done if something came flying out of that nest. I probably would have turned right back around to Georgetown and landed.

hotrod180 wrote:

TangoFox wrote:These are good insurance for wasps!

Seen both metallic and plastic "scrubbies" in the wing root vent before--
what's that do to airflow?
Not enough air comes in on a hot day as it is.
Maybe better to just cover (tape over) the vents when parked (outside).

I stuff the non-metallic scrubbies into my vents when I have my plane tied down, and REMOVE them before flight. Just like the pitot tube cover and the foam ear plug I stuff into my fuel tank vent (it has a string attached that I wrap around my strut so I don't forget!). So far, the only wasps I've found in my cockpit came in the open window that was LEFT open because it's so darn hot on the ramp.