Check under your cowl on preflight!

[danb35]

Went out to the airport last Saturday to fly, as it was a nice day for it and the plane had just come out of annual.  The flight was a little delayed, though--looking under the cowl, I found this:

 

Cowl plugs are on order from Kennon, and should be here today.

[Bill_Carter]

Wow, isn't your cowl hard to remove for quick checks and such?

[danb35]

Yes, it is, and I don't remove it for preflight.  I saw the nest through the air inlets, though I didn't realize how big it was until I got the cowl off.

[Cruiser]

tell tale signs are bird droppings on or around the inlets, small bits of paper, grass or straw in the area even if you can't see a nest.......... odds are there is one.

I once found the bird's nest all the way in the rear of the air intake vent, on top of the oil cooler in a PA28 Piper Archer. It was totally hidden from view.

[Sabremech]

This is why I sure like having mine in a hangar. I remeber the days of being in a covered T-hangar and watching for this on my Cherokee. Good catch!

 David

[carusoam]

My C would get an annual attempt of nesting in the tail. A small piece of foam rubber in that area works pretty well as a blockade.

Make sure with all plugs, that in the event they get left in, they don't block the ability to operate the controls....

My cowl plugs are tied together, so when the prop turns, at least one will be pulled out and a noisy scene should arise....

Full nest building can occur in a week. Starling experience.

Best regards,

-a-

[robert7467]

I heard of that happening within hours of the plane sitting on the ramp.

[KSMooniac]

Starlings can build a nest like that in just a few hours, certainly.  I used to get that IN my hangar too, and got some cowl plugs from Bruce's that fixed the problem.  I'm still working to keep the birds out of my hangar, 6 years in...

[ChrisH]

Found that out myself, and now I have a full engine cover, and tail cover. Talking to the A&P on the field here at KTTA, birds here have very good taste and tend to prefer Mooney's as well. But, do watch the tail cone, they like to nest back there too.

[Bob_Belville]

Dan, I wonder what your CHTs are like. I ask because your pic suggests to me the baffles seals might not be fitting the top cowl all around. Mine were not and replacing improved temps by over 20 deg.

[M20F]

Be sure to take the tail as well as they enjoy building them there it is much harder to plug up (I use some towels to varying degrees of success).

[danb35]

I know the baffle seals look kind of rough, but CHTs haven't been a problem.  I have an engine monitor and regularly download data from it to confirm all's well.

[Jamie]

I bought some car wash sponges from Wal Mart for $1.50 (each) that fit nearly perfectly in the engine inlets. Brightly colored and cheap.