Curious Event

[Cyril Gibb]

I usually try to follow a consistent pattern when putting away Gladys, including installing the pitot cover, even in winter.

This is what I saw yesterday going for a flight:

Mice?  How would a mouse get to the pitot under the wing?  the ribbon is well off the floor.  Maybe a bird in the hangar?

The only obvious thing would be aliens...

 

[toto]

+1 for aliens

 

 

 

 

[MinneMooney]

20 minutes ago, Cyril Gibb said:

I usually try to follow a consistent pattern when putting away Gladys, including installing the pitot cover, even in winter.

This is what I saw yesterday going for a flight:

Mice?  How would a mouse get to the pitot under the wing?  the ribbon is well off the floor.  Maybe a bird in the hangar?

The only obvious thing would be aliens...

 

I would definitely look for mice signs elsewhere in the plane.
I got this idea from watching a Martin Pauly YouTube video. I cut 3 pieces of aluminum sheet metal into 12” x 10’ strips. I loop them into a circle around each wheel and hold them with a clamp. I’m hopeful it will keep the mice out of my plane in the winter. So far, in 2 winters, so good!

[MinneMooney]

Unfortunately, the only picture I could find is this on of my homemade electric tow bar.

FYI, it’s the green circle around the nose wheel at the top of the picture.

[DonMuncy]

I'm interested in your tow bar. Do you mind sharing more details, what kind of motor you use, how well it works, etc. 

[ohdub]

4 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

I'm interested in your tow bar. Do you mind sharing more details, what kind of motor you use, how well it works, etc. 

+1

[MinneMooney]

I will put together the details and post later, but it works really well. Lots of power to even pull through a bit of snow. I built it about a year ago after I almost could not push the plane back into my hangar by hand myself one day. I bought most of the parts off eBay or Amazon. It’s a Jazzy 24v wheelchair drive and wheel. I bought a 60a speed control that came with a forward/reverse, a pot to change speeds and a digital display. I wired in a deadman’s switch that I can press with my left thumb while steering and still adjust the speed with my right hand. I used 2 - 12v 9ah batteries from a Computer UPS. The rest is some steel tubing, plate and angle that I welded up.
At 100%, it goes faster than I can walk.

[MinneMooney]

Also, I’ve since added a driveway reflector that sticks up high enough to be readily visible from the cockpit to hopefully prevent a major fubar should someone forget to remove the tow bar before starting!

[Ross Statham]

 I live in the western Florida Panhandle, and had a “mice in my hanger” issue two winters ago. When the weather turns cold here, and it does get into the 20’s, the mice leave the nearby pastures and woods and head for the shelter of hangers.  Fortunately they left my airplane alone, and went for the boxes we had stored.  The little suckers did quite a bit of damage to our stuff before we found their handiwork the next Summer.  I end up getting some Great Stuff spray foam and blocking the panels to the rear of my hanger, and that solved my problem. I also set out mice and rat bait, but of course I am careful not to allow visitors with dogs to come in to my hanger, for obvious reasons.  

 It does look like a mice issue though, and part of me says it’s good they gave you such solid evidence on your pitot cover instead of doing damage to your interior or inside the cowling and your finding it the hard way. I really do like the idea of blocking the wheels with aluminum strips.  Don’t know what you can do about the ones that decide to bungee jump from the ceiling though besides putting in security cameras....

[squeaky.stow]

Definitely mice. Get some traps ASAP before they do serious damage. The little buggers can climb and jump like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible and they can get through a hole the size of a pencil eraser.

 

[squeaky.stow]

4 hours ago, MinneMooney said:

I will put together the details and post later, but it works really well. 

 

 

 

This gets my vote for the nicest and simplest homemade powered tow bar yet seen on MS. Many of us less creative types would be forever grateful if you would dedicate a thread to your design and parts list. 

[squeaky.stow]

7 hours ago, Cyril Gibb said:

I usually try to follow a consistent pattern when putting away Gladys, including installing the pitot cover, even in winter.

This is what I saw yesterday going for a flight:

Mice?  How would a mouse get to the pitot under the wing?  the ribbon is well off the floor.  Maybe a bird in the hangar?

The only obvious thing would be aliens...

 

Hi Cyril,

I just noticed you are in Toronto. Where do you hangar your Mooney? I am in Edenvale. 
Mark

[DonMuncy]

Thanks for the follow-up, MM. What is you opinion of using a tire to drive the nosewheel, as opposed to my design, using the drive tire traction on the ground.

[MinneMooney]

Don, with the geometry of the drive wheel to the nose tire, it takes very little downward pressure on the end of the bar to create a lot of pressure on the nose tire. I can easily control and prevent the drive tire from slipping. Plus, I can turn the nose wheel from side to side without the drive tire having to scuff sideways. The whole thing is 5’ long. It took a couple of trials with cardboard to get everything just the way I wanted. 
You could put a hinge in the middle and fold it up to fit in the baggage compartment. The batteries are a bit heavy but you could use lithium batteries if you wanted to make it lighter. I wanted the capacity to tow the plane quite a distance if I wanted before recharging. I do keep a 24v charger on it in the hangar so it’s always at full power.

[Hank]

How well does it work when the nose tire is wet?

[MinneMooney]

Quite well. I’ve used it even with snow getting on the tires. It does slip a bit more easily but a little more pressure on the bar handle stops it. I only use one arm most times. Another benefit to driving the nose tire is that when pushing the plane backwards, the drive tire is pulling the bar down, which increases the traction.

[Cyril Gibb]

3 hours ago, squeaky.stow said:

Hi Cyril,

I just noticed you are in Toronto. Where do you hangar your Mooney? I am in Edenvale. 
Mark

Hangared in Kitchener.  Many moons ago I had a tie down at the island airport downtown, within a walk from where I lived.  Sadly, GA got pushed out years ago.

[thomas1142]

On 1/24/2021 at 5:35 PM, squeaky.stow said:

would be forever grateful if you would dedicate a thread to your design and parts list

@MinneMooney any progress on this item. Thanks

 

[MinneMooney]

Sorry. Working on it. I’m not sure how detailed I can get. I had to go to my hangar to take some more pictures. I never really had a dimensional drawing. Some of the dimensions were driven by the drive motor and wheel that I found on eBay. I just built it.

I did lookup all of the bits I bought and found that I spent just under $150.

[carusoam]

Go with as much detail as you have, Minne...

The more the better...

But, if you don’t have it... somebody will have to work as hard as you did to finish...

Some MSers have tremendous other skills...

Makes it fun to hang out here...

-a-

[MinneMooney]

For those interested, I just started a new thread with my towbar fabrication.