windshield wipers

[tony roberts]

When I was in flight school I asked why GA aircraft don't have
windshield wipers and was told that it's because the prop blows the rain
off - really - that's what they told me.

Now I fly lots in rain. This past 2 weeks I have flown in more rain than
I ever wanted to see - and the prop definitely doesn't blow the rain
off. :)

So I'm back to my original question.

Why don't GA aircraft have windshield wipers?
It can't be cost - even the cheapest Yugo/Hyundai/Lada have windshield
wipers - but not a $250,000 aircraft.

Anyone know why?

--

Tony Roberts
PP-ASEL
VFR OTT
Night
Almost Instrument :)
Cessna 172H C-GICE

[Bushy]

Your windscreen is probably levan or perspex. This is very easy to scratch
and the dust on the screen would soon turn the swept area to white with
scratches.

You could have a small panel of glass, probably some sort of laminated super
duper automotive windscreen glass but you may well want it mounted in front
of your bird resistant lexan.......

If you wanted a system with redundancy for when the power fails, Series 1
and 2 Landrovers had a single wiper motor and gearbox that mounts inside the
windscreen and can be manually operated when the electrics fail. Of course,
being manufactured by "The Prince Of Darkness", the Lucas electric motors
needed this feature.

They are not all that bad, both of them on my 1964 2A shorty still work,
even though they spend most of their life out in the paddock.

Hope this helps,
Peter

[Stealth Pilot]

On Sat, 29 May 2004 06:04:40 GMT, tony roberts >
wrote:

>When I was in flight school I asked why GA aircraft don't have
>windshield wipers and was told that it's because the prop blows the rain
>off - really - that's what they told me.
>
>Now I fly lots in rain. This past 2 weeks I have flown in more rain than
>I ever wanted to see - and the prop definitely doesn't blow the rain
>off. :)
>
>So I'm back to my original question.
>
>Why don't GA aircraft have windshield wipers?
>It can't be cost - even the cheapest Yugo/Hyundai/Lada have windshield
>wipers - but not a $250,000 aircraft.
>
>Anyone know why?

aerodynamics and considerably higher speeds than a lada in a terminal
dive can muster :-).

you can apply rain-X to the windscreen to assist in the blow off if
you want. ....if it is your own aircraft.
Stealth Pilot

[Ben Jackson]

In article >,
Stealth Pilot > wrote:
>you can apply rain-X to the windscreen to assist in the blow off if
>you want. ....if it is your own aircraft.

The problem with rain-X is that while freshly rain-X'd is better than
never treated, never treated is far far better than "stale" rain-X'd.
And I've never been able to truly get the stuff off of a glass car
window.

--
Ben Jackson
>
http://www.ben.com/

[Peter R.]

Stealth Pilot wrote:

> you can apply rain-X to the windscreen to assist in the blow off if
> you want. ....if it is your own aircraft.

Over time, Rain-X will damage an aircraft windshield. Read the product
label.

--
Peter







----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! >100,000 Newsgroups
---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

[Nathan Young]

On Sat, 29 May 2004 12:22:39 GMT, (Ben Jackson) wrote:

>In article >,
>Stealth Pilot > wrote:
>>you can apply rain-X to the windscreen to assist in the blow off if
>>you want. ....if it is your own aircraft.
>
>The problem with rain-X is that while freshly rain-X'd is better than
>never treated, never treated is far far better than "stale" rain-X'd.
>And I've never been able to truly get the stuff off of a glass car
>window.

Ditto that. Rain-X works great, but soon loses it's effectiveness,
and leaves a film on the windshield and wiper blades. With RainX,
it's all or nothing.

Plus, Rain-X was not designed to be used on plexiglass. I'm pretty
sure there is a warning to this effect on the label.

-Nathan

[G.R. Patterson III]

tony roberts wrote:
>
> Now I fly lots in rain. This past 2 weeks I have flown in more rain than
> I ever wanted to see - and the prop definitely doesn't blow the rain
> off. :)

Well, I don't fly lots in rain, and I've never flown through very heavy rain, but the
prop blows the rain off about half of my windshield in the sort of rain that would
produce visibility of 1-2 miles.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

[Aaron Coolidge]

tony roberts > wrote:
: When I was in flight school I asked why GA aircraft don't have
: windshield wipers and was told that it's because the prop blows the rain
: off - really - that's what they told me.

I have found this to usually be the case. (I fly a Cherokee.)

: Why don't GA aircraft have windshield wipers?
: It can't be cost - even the cheapest Yugo/Hyundai/Lada have windshield
: wipers - but not a $250,000 aircraft.

The Navajo Chieftian that I flew once had a windshield wiper on the pilot's
side. It was placarded "Do Not Use Wiper Above 125 KIAS". I've thought about
placarding my BMW in a similar manner.
--
Aaron Coolidge (N9376J)

[Victor J. Osborne, Jr.]

Try Rain X wipes, they work for me.

--

Thx, {|;-)

Victor J. (Jim) Osborne, Jr.



take off my shoes to reply