17-year cicadas of any concern to aircraft?

[Peter R.]

As a relatively newly-certificated pilot (two years ago), I am curious
about the upcoming emergence of the seventeen-year cicada in the northeast
and midwest US later this May.

Are there any hazards to aircraft associated with these insects, either on
the ground or in the air?

--
Peter

[C J Campbell]

"Peter R." > wrote in message
...
> As a relatively newly-certificated pilot (two years ago), I am curious
> about the upcoming emergence of the seventeen-year cicada in the northeast
> and midwest US later this May.
>
> Are there any hazards to aircraft associated with these insects, either on
> the ground or in the air?
>

Flying through a large cloud of insects can clog your air filter and cover
your windshield with impenetrable goo. They can build up on the wings and
reduce lift and increase drag. It can take days to clean the bugs off the
airplane.

Some areas seem to have a permanent haze of bugs. Western Kansas comes to
mind. The worst I have encountered was in October of 2001. One of my
students had just bought a new Cessna 172 and we were ferrying it back to
Bremerton from the factory at Independence. We landed at Liberty for fuel
and flew through an incredible number of bugs. We could hardly see the
runway when we touched down. The entire airplane was coated with bug guts
which quickly hardened into a yellow and red layer of shellac. It was truly
awful.

[[email protected]]

On Mon, 10 May 2004 10:25:49 -0400, Peter R.
> wrote:

>As a relatively newly-certificated pilot (two years ago), I am curious
>about the upcoming emergence of the seventeen-year cicada in the northeast
>and midwest US later this May.
>
>Are there any hazards to aircraft associated with these insects, either on
>the ground or in the air?

I've lived on the east coast all my life and have never seen clouds of
Cicada's, ever. There have been summers when they were a bit noisier
than others, but never clouds of them.

You don't want to hit one of those things riding a motorcycle without
a full face mask though...

My experience has been that Cicada's don't fly very high, they travel
from tree to tree.

Corky Scott

[Peter R.]

) wrote:

> My experience has been that Cicada's don't fly very high, they travel
> from tree to tree.

So, in other words, stay out of the trees and we will be safe. :)

Thanks, Corky, for the experience.

--
Peter

[Rick Durden]

Peter,

The 17-year cicada cycle for Chicago and the western Great Lakes was
last in the summer of 1990. Proved to be no big deal for flying, just
noisy as my house was in the middle of one of the infestations.

All the best,
Rick

Peter R. > wrote in message >...
> As a relatively newly-certificated pilot (two years ago), I am curious
> about the upcoming emergence of the seventeen-year cicada in the northeast
> and midwest US later this May.
>
> Are there any hazards to aircraft associated with these insects, either on
> the ground or in the air?

[Pat]

Peter R. > wrote in message >...
> As a relatively newly-certificated pilot (two years ago), I am curious
> about the upcoming emergence of the seventeen-year cicada in the northeast
> and midwest US later this May.
>
> Are there any hazards to aircraft associated with these insects, either on
> the ground or in the air?


I live in NE Ohio and we had the "invasion" of the 17-year Cicada's
just a couple of years ago. Thus, I wouldn't expect to see them here
(generally considered midwest) anytime soon. Can you point me to a
link with info regarding where they are expected to emerge this year?

Thanks,
Pat

[gatt]

"C J Campbell" > wrote in message

> Flying through a large cloud of insects can clog your air filter and cover
> your windshield with impenetrable goo. They can build up on the wings and
> reduce lift and increase drag. It can take days to clean the bugs off the
> airplane.

The old RV trick is to cover the front of the vehicle with PAM so you can
wipe the guts off before they dry and stick to the paint. Can you do this
with aircraft?

-c

[Peter R.]

Pat ) wrote:

> Can you point me to a link with info regarding where they
> are expected to emerge this year?

"Brood X" is coming!

http://www.msj.edu/cicada/

--
Peter

[C J Campbell]

"gatt" > wrote in message
...
>
> "C J Campbell" > wrote in message
>
> > Flying through a large cloud of insects can clog your air filter and
cover
> > your windshield with impenetrable goo. They can build up on the wings
and
> > reduce lift and increase drag. It can take days to clean the bugs off
the
> > airplane.
>
> The old RV trick is to cover the front of the vehicle with PAM so you can
> wipe the guts off before they dry and stick to the paint. Can you do this
> with aircraft?

Silicon sprays work well and are more durable.

[Jay Honeck]

> Some areas seem to have a permanent haze of bugs.

Try landing at any Mississippi valley airport (Prairie du Chien comes
especially to mind) on a hot summer's evening.

You can practically hear the bugs on short final...

Which is why we use Lemon Pledge on the leading edges. The bugs just wipe
right off! ;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Maule Driver]

I spent a week camping with a 17 year emergence. The occasion was flying in
a glider race.

Glider pilots actually estimate bug smashes, we have settings in our
computers for them. At a 5 day race, we clean all the bugs off 5 times.

I can't remember seeing a single Cicada smash. Oh, we nailed a circling
buzzard and there were plenty of bugs to hit at all altitudes but no Cicadas

Main risk was a good night's sleep and hearing people scream the first time
they see one of those red eyed monsters.

I'd love to be on a trout stream when those 17 year monsters hatch... But I
don't think the trout would know what to make of them.

"Peter R." > wrote in message
...
> As a relatively newly-certificated pilot (two years ago), I am curious
> about the upcoming emergence of the seventeen-year cicada in the northeast
> and midwest US later this May.
>
> Are there any hazards to aircraft associated with these insects, either on
> the ground or in the air?
>
> --
> Peter
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Chris W]

C J Campbell wrote:

> Some areas seem to have a permanent haze of bugs. Western Kansas comes to
> mind. The worst I have encountered was in October of 2001. One of my
> students had just bought a new Cessna 172 and we were ferrying it back to
> Bremerton from the factory at Independence. We landed at Liberty for fuel
> and flew through an incredible number of bugs. We could hardly see the
> runway when we touched down. The entire airplane was coated with bug guts
> which quickly hardened into a yellow and red layer of shellac. It was truly
> awful.

Rain X on the window and a good coat of an appropriate wax on the rest
of the plane can make getting those bugs of a LOT easier.

Chris W

--
Bring Back the HP 15C
http://hp15c.org:8080

[C J Campbell]

"Chris W" > wrote in message
news:UpXnc.57890$NZ4.44281@lakeread05...
> C J Campbell wrote:
>
> > Some areas seem to have a permanent haze of bugs. Western Kansas comes
to
> > mind. The worst I have encountered was in October of 2001. One of my
> > students had just bought a new Cessna 172 and we were ferrying it back
to
> > Bremerton from the factory at Independence. We landed at Liberty for
fuel
> > and flew through an incredible number of bugs. We could hardly see the
> > runway when we touched down. The entire airplane was coated with bug
guts
> > which quickly hardened into a yellow and red layer of shellac. It was
truly
> > awful.
>
> Rain X on the window and a good coat of an appropriate wax on the rest
> of the plane can make getting those bugs of a LOT easier.
>

Rain-X is labeled not for use on plastic. It will eventually fog the
plastic. There are other products that are safe to use on airplane windows,
however.

[Dylan Smith]

In article <QySnc.66111$Ik.4885529@attbi_s53>, Jay Honeck wrote:
> Which is why we use Lemon Pledge on the leading edges. The bugs just wipe
> right off! ;-)

I agree with that - before every flight in the bug season, I'd Pledge
the leading edges/struts on the C140. Made it much easier to get the
Houston goo off as well as the bugs (just the Houston air would turn the
leading edges brown with this horrible gooey brown goo).

Had a slightly different problem, but fortunately not a sticky one last
weekend. The Auster is bright yellow, and it attracted a phenomenal
number of insects. Fortunately, they all blew off on the first takeoff.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

[David H]

"Peter R." wrote:

> As a relatively newly-certificated pilot (two years ago), I am curious
> about the upcoming emergence of the seventeen-year cicada in the northeast
> and midwest US later this May.
>
> Are there any hazards to aircraft associated with these insects, either on
> the ground or in the air?

Greatest hazard - probably being terminally grossed-out.

David Herman
Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, WA
N6170T 1965 Cessna 150E
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Visit the Pacific Northwest Flying forum:
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/pnwflying

[Michael Houghton]

Howdy!

In article >,
> wrote:
>On Mon, 10 May 2004 10:25:49 -0400, Peter R.
> wrote:
>
>>As a relatively newly-certificated pilot (two years ago), I am curious
>>about the upcoming emergence of the seventeen-year cicada in the northeast
>>and midwest US later this May.
>>
>>Are there any hazards to aircraft associated with these insects, either on
>>the ground or in the air?
>
>I've lived on the east coast all my life and have never seen clouds of
>Cicada's, ever. There have been summers when they were a bit noisier
>than others, but never clouds of them.
>
>You don't want to hit one of those things riding a motorcycle without
>a full face mask though...

Oy! Reminds me of the story a friend told of catching a June beetle in the
cheek under similar circumstances...
>
>My experience has been that Cicada's don't fly very high, they travel
>from tree to tree.
>
....and they don't really swarm...

yours,
Michael


--
Michael and MJ Houghton | Herveus d'Ormonde and Megan O'Donnelly
| White Wolf and the Phoenix
Bowie, MD, USA | Tablet and Inkle bands, and other stuff
| http://www.radix.net/~herveus/

[L Smith]

>>You don't want to hit one of those things riding a motorcycle without
>>a full face mask though...
>>
>>
>
>
>
Full face masks don't solve every problem, sometimes they just
redirect it.

Had a boss one time that came into work a little 'perturbed' one
morning. Seems a wasp
bounced off his face shield into his jacket. Dude was dazed from the
initial collision,
but once he shook that off, he was mad!

Rich Lemert

[Bill Denton]

Sometimes it works the other way...

I once had a large bee crash into the front of my leather jacket and bounce
up under my full-coverage helmet, ending up quite alive between my face
shield and my face! And just to make it even more fun, I was about 25 miles
from nowhere and I'm allergic to bee stings.

You'd be surprised how quickly you can haul a scooter down from 70 to 0 when
you've got a bee flying around about a half inch from your eyeball! I yanked
my helmet off, the bee got the hell out of Dodge, and I didn't suffer any
injuries a couple of beers and a pair of clean BVD's couldn't fix, so I
guess all's well that ends well...



"L Smith" > wrote in message
ink.net...
>
> >>You don't want to hit one of those things riding a motorcycle without
> >>a full face mask though...
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> Full face masks don't solve every problem, sometimes they just
> redirect it.
>
> Had a boss one time that came into work a little 'perturbed' one
> morning. Seems a wasp
> bounced off his face shield into his jacket. Dude was dazed from the
> initial collision,
> but once he shook that off, he was mad!
>
> Rich Lemert
>

[Bob Chilcoat]

I once inhaled a bee while on my way to work on my bicycle. After I spat it
out, I realized it had stung me. I was still a couple of miles from work
(The University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff), but I figured if I was going
to swell up and obstruct, I wanted to be as close as possible to my
Department (Anaesthesia). I just pressed on at my usual 18-20 mph, went
straight up to the Department, grabbed the first anaesthetist I saw and
explained what had happened. He took me down to the ENT clinic and the
surgeon removed a bee sting from the back of my throat. I was sick as a dog
all afternoon. Bees are a lot hotter than Habanero Peppers, I can tell you!

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

I don't have to like Bush and Cheney (Or Kerry, for that matter) to love
America

"Bill Denton" > wrote in message
...
> Sometimes it works the other way...
>
> I once had a large bee crash into the front of my leather jacket and
bounce
> up under my full-coverage helmet, ending up quite alive between my face
> shield and my face! And just to make it even more fun, I was about 25
miles
> from nowhere and I'm allergic to bee stings.
>
> You'd be surprised how quickly you can haul a scooter down from 70 to 0
when
> you've got a bee flying around about a half inch from your eyeball! I
yanked
> my helmet off, the bee got the hell out of Dodge, and I didn't suffer any
> injuries a couple of beers and a pair of clean BVD's couldn't fix, so I
> guess all's well that ends well...
>
>
>
> "L Smith" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> >
> > >>You don't want to hit one of those things riding a motorcycle without
> > >>a full face mask though...
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > Full face masks don't solve every problem, sometimes they just
> > redirect it.
> >
> > Had a boss one time that came into work a little 'perturbed' one
> > morning. Seems a wasp
> > bounced off his face shield into his jacket. Dude was dazed from the
> > initial collision,
> > but once he shook that off, he was mad!
> >
> > Rich Lemert
> >
>
>