The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Guys what are you doing if anything to stop these little B#$%$&*? I've thought about moth balls and tried that some years ago liked to killed the radio shop dude doing the altimeter check! So this time I want to know if it might cause any corrision? Or, put it in some type Aluminum can and tape it down just remove it before it goes for a check! I have it hangared and yet hve at least 6-8 nest to remove every year. what should I try? Ron

Move north of the Mason Dixon line and pretend to be a Yankee might help.



Northern mud dabbers aren't near as ferocious.

This may sound off-the-wall, but it actually works. I learned this trick in Progressive Farmer magazine, or some such similar publication.

Dirt daubers need water and dirt to build a nest. So why not provide both for them? Take a 6" or so plate, and put about 1/2" of powdered dirt in it. In the center, put a can or cup (I used an empty Goop plastic can). Fill the can/cup with water and Malathion mix. Diazinon or other insecticide will also work. Set it somewhere close to your airplane. Be sure it's up high enough so animals, curious children, etc. can't get to it. Replenish the water as it evaporates.

I find dead daubers all over my hangar floor.

And don't move. Just remember...North is only a direction out of the South!

Moth Balls are an old-wives tale. I wasted a lot of time and effort hanging tobacco bags filled with moth-balls all over my airplane. It made no difference whatsoever.
WD-40 is the best stuff I've found. Wash my airplane with it. Spray my airplane's belly with it. Shoot it at mud daubers (with the trigger-bottle set to "stream") and it gets 'em every time. Meanwhile, it is good for the airplane. (Soapy water or Simple Green will also work but it will stain a polished airplane.....regardless of what the Simple Green folks tell you.)

George - you are certainly sold on the benefits of WD40. Makes me wonder if you don't use it on your pancakes in the morning.

Robert Eilers wrote:George - you are certainly sold on the benefits of WD40. Makes me wonder if you don't use it on your pancakes in the morning.

or his coffee...

It tastes best on a nice fresh green salad with a dash of Marvel Mystery Oil.

Robert Eilers wrote:George - you are certainly sold on the benefits of WD40. Makes me wonder if you don't use it on your pancakes in the morning.

A splash on the hair cures dandruff, spray (or stream) on the joints remedies arthritis, mist the room and it repels the vapors, and a bit first put on the hand then spread around heals acne, resolves gout, sweetens the breath, repels mosquitoes, and attracts young women. It's an all-in-one for whatever ails you. Some say George buys it by the 55 gallon drum.

If you regularly eat a lot of spinach, you can soak your socks in WD-40, too. (It'll keep the cutworms from eatin' up your underwear.)

I'm not so sure that George and Old Gar weren't drinking WD-40 at the convention Must have been on sumptin

I have a dirt dauber question. I have some spark plugs that I left sitting on a table in the hangar and now have some of the little b@$terds in the ceramic end. I can clean them out but fear damaging the ceramic insulators should I soak the plugs in a parts cleaner or something like that?

Bill if you have a thin metal pick I wouldn't be afraid to pick the mud out just like I'd pick out lead deposits. Just don't pry against the ceramic sides. You might also find someone with a spark plug cleaner which is really nothing more than a small bead blast cabinet specially for spark plugs.

Of course the plugs should be tested after being cleaned with a tester to insure their still performing to standard regardless how you clean them.

I usually test them in my special 300 ci fossil fueled multi-purpose tester with the big cooling fan, where I can test 12 plugs at a time or for trouble shooting reduce that number to just 6.

$16 at the chinese (ptui-ptui) tool store buys a spark plug blaster. All you need is compressed air.