Cleaning bugs - the real secret

First, thanks everyone for past posts on cleaning agents, corrosion,
polish etc.

The weather has been so outrageously nice in North Carolina since
Christmas that I finally ran out of excuses to wash the plane. It's
still hard to put shorts on in mid-January despite mid-70 temperatures.

So, I decided to wash the plane first with dish washing detergent and
lots of water to get the major grime off. Then I planned to go back
with the "Wash Wax All' line of products to clean and polish.

The bugs were tough. No matter how much elbow grease, water, soap,
WashWaxAll, Lemon Pledge or whatever, the bugs would not all come off
the leading edges, prop, etc. I tried all the products on various test
spots.

Two and one half hours later, the secret emerged... just keep the
surfaces wet for 2.5 hours or so and the bugs come off like magic.

The secret is wet patience.

I Already knew this from my glider days. The gel coat surfaces give up
the bugs pretty easily but doing all 50' daily at a 10 day contest can
tax the crew. But for performance reasons it was absolutely necessary.
The secret for those that tied out was to get to the airport at sun
up while the dew was still on the wings. A simple light wipe would take
them off. Then go for breakfast, shower and shave before returning to a
clean ship. Bet you guys that go to fly-ins already know this too.

YMWNV. This wet patience worked on painted fiberglass, aluminum, steel,
and fabric, all of which the motley Maule has.