Warbird Information Exchange

A new thread, for those who really know,what actual damage is caused on aluminum aircraft by zebra muscles? Can you let them dry out and take a puddy knife and scrape them off,or do they achor themselves into the pores of the aluminum and glue themselves to it? Has anybody ever tried scraping the little suckers off an airplane wet or dry?

[quote="camshaw"]A new thread, for those who really know,what actual damage is caused on aluminum aircraft by zebra muscles? Can you let them dry out and take a puddy knife and scrape them off,or do they achor themselves into the pores of the aluminum and glue themselves to it? Has anybody ever tried scraping the little suckers off an airplane wet or dry?[/quote] for one you never use a putty knife or made from metal to scrape aluminum.. You use a plastic or mycarta ( Spelling )? scraper.

High pressure sprayer, paint stripper and alum etch. Pores of metal usually are covered by paint or primer. Some naval A/C are anodized so the metal has a chemical film applied before paint. Biggest worry would be chemical secretions or body waste creating a corrosion concern above just being submerged.
Rich

_________________
Rich Palmer

Remember an Injured Youth
benstear.org
#64- Stay Strong and Keep the Faith

BOOM BOOM, ROUND ROUND, PROPELLER GO

Don't Be A Dilbert!

i'm your zebra mussel man...... i'm in the marine business on lake erie, so i know 1st hand......the pesky litlle s.o.b.'s get as big as your thumb nail, they came into the great lakes via european freighters that blew out their ballast tanks as they entered the st lawrence seaway to enter the great lakes. the rest is history. they are an invasive species to the great lakes (1 amongst hundreds of others) each little zebra mussel filters up to a quart of water a day chowing on microsopic food needed for fish. they have 1 good point, each little thumb nail has changed the water clarity in all the great lakes to the magnitude that more shipwrecks / plane crashes are being found more than ever. heck they'll probably find jimmy hoffa stuffed in a 55 gallon drum!! now the bad points..... they are asexual, so they breed on their own, no mate needed. they infest every solid surface in the lakes from docks to warbirds to the tune of that there are 30,000 zebra mussels per square foot on average in the lakes. the problem in regard to warbirds, or ship wrecks is they mass on these relics, & their sheer weight enventually collapses the long submerged relic with it's already structural integrity is even more comprimised, according to recreational divers. the lakes are to big & deep to kill them. they have changed the way people sport fish too.

_________________
tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

1 foot note...... muck, silt, & sand are good!!! if the warbird is under any of these, the little pains in the butt mussels can't get on to buried parts. here is to you zebra mussels

_________________
tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

do they like the lighter shallow waters, how deep have you seen them? which of the great lakes are they prevailent in(allofthem?) I would think they would like the shallows for the food??? Are the previous post pretty acurate on their removel?

shallow to deep, it makes no matter. if you go to the beach the dead one's shells as well as live one's in the water will cut your feet to ribbons if not careful.

_________________
tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

I live not far from Lake Michigan..and they're pretty pervasive there. There are several power plants along the lakeshore (including a couple of nuke plants) and they have continual problems with ZMs clogging the cooling water discharge pipes (they love the warm water.) You also can't walk along the beach without hearing a constant "crucnch" under your feet. The shells are often two or three inches deep at the high-water line (the Great Lakes don't have tides to speak of.)

I remember back in the '70s the Lamprey was the big invasive threat. They're a parasitic ell-like critter with a tooth-lined sucker mouth (actually a close relative of sharks) the latches onto fish and sucks them dry. They significantly reduced the trout population. I haven't heard much about them in recent years..don't know if they've simply been bumped down the "threat" list, or they're just not a big deal anymore. I caught one once in a stream (where they breed) and kept it in a jar for a few days..nasty looking bugger.

SN

aaah the lamprey.... another invasive friend via europe. i've caught many walleyes with those those ugly things stuck to them. they are like something out of a monster movie!!, but only a couple inches long. as to the infestation of the zebra mussels, i'd say that all the great lakes are pretty even. by the way..... they are starting to show up in inland lakes too, via boat bilge intakes from guys who trailer their boats, & don't clean them properly upon removal from the water. the dang thing can live out of water up to a week too, hence the increasing inland lakes cooties. they are tough buggers!! i know 2 pro wreck divers, & they attest to the collapsing weight on sunk wood ships from the 19th century. warbirds will not fair much better, with the alkalinity / acidity taking it's toll on aircraft aluminum & it's strength as it wears down.. it's called galvanic action, the slow deterioration of aluminum. granted, ocean salt water is just as bad, but time is not on the warbirds side regardless of fresh or salt water.

_________________
tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

You're lucky..the one I caught in an inland stream was nearly a foot! It died after a couple days, probably because I put it in a jar of tap water, which is treated with chlorine.

SN

SN You are my type of Sportsman now all they have to worry about is the Jumping Carp and Snake head's and Gobeies !

_________________
Always Keep Em Flying !

Glen

Lookie Capt Jim! Wham! Wham! ...............................Termights

we've got gobies out the ying yang on lake erie. i smash them on the swim platform or take a pliers to their funky heads, & the gulls just love em!! yum yum!!! as for the asian jumping carp & snakehead if they hit the great lakes sport fishing will be toast as we know it. i've hooked clumps of zebra mussels while perching or drifting for walleyes with worm harnesses on the lake bottom, they are down their to that extent. do some google searches of A&T RECOVERY in chicago & you'll see some of the 1st portion of warbirds pulled out of the drink in the late 80's early 90's with not a mussel to be found on those warbirds.

_________________
tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

so its pretty safe to say that anything in those lakes has turned to crustacian corroded mess eah? All the skins by now would need replacement completely and any other surface exposed..Does anybody have any pictures of any craft that have been recently recovered? I'm just wondering if all the birds in those lakes are junk by now...good topic...

Does anyone know how deep the mussels can live? Some of those aircraft are 200 feet deep or more..below the reach of much daylight. Those might still be in reasonable condition.

SN

sink---sank---sunken----most sunk