FLOCK OF BIRDS IN FINAL for a C182T

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Hi all,

yesterday I was landing with a C182T , when in very short final , at least 30 pigeon took off directly to myself . They were very close to me ,few inches I guess .My decision was to do nothing, continue and land . Fortunately all pigeon were skill enough to avoid my plane at least for one inch . My friend and pilot seated on the right seat desagree with me and told me full power and go around . In his opinion a collision in short final with low power setting ,could have cause setting the plane to the ground . In his opinion with full power the plane should had succesfully resist the strike or strikes . Is this right ? Is a safe procedure to set full power , in case of bird encounter ?

thanks

pablo

[Curt Johnson[_2_]]

On 8/31/2012 3:39 AM, wrote:
> Is this right ? Is a safe procedure to set full power , in case of bird encounter ?
>
> pablo
>

I hit a duck on short final in a Grumman AA-1B. I barely felt it,
although it put a good sized dent in the leading edge of my right wing.
A few pigeons are not going to bring down a 182.

If you see birds approaching your flight path and you have sufficient
time to calmly react, it wouldn't hurt to go around, but if it's a last
second decision, you are better off taking a few nicks than
over-reacting and risking a stall/spin.

Curt

[Orval Fairbairn]

In article >,
Curt Johnson > wrote:

> On 8/31/2012 3:39 AM, wrote:
> > Is this right ? Is a safe procedure to set full power , in case of bird
> > encounter ?
> >
> > pablo
> >
>
> I hit a duck on short final in a Grumman AA-1B. I barely felt it,
> although it put a good sized dent in the leading edge of my right wing.
> A few pigeons are not going to bring down a 182.
>
> If you see birds approaching your flight path and you have sufficient
> time to calmly react, it wouldn't hurt to go around, but if it's a last
> second decision, you are better off taking a few nicks than
> over-reacting and risking a stall/spin.
>
> Curt

Best move (if you have time) is to climb immediately, as an airplane can
easily outclimb a bird.

If you have a collision, continue the approach and land, since you
really won't know the extent of the damage (if any) until you are safely
on the ground. Impacts at approach speeds are likely do do minimum (if
no) damage,

Hitting birds at cruise can make sone big holes in airframes. I have
seen vulture impacts that:

1. penetrated to the main spar on an SX-300
2. crushed a wingtip on a Seneca
3. destroyed the left cowl and made big dent in the firewall on a
Bonanza.

[Vaughn]

On 8/31/2012 6:39 AM, wrote:
> Is a safe
> procedure to set full power , in case of bird encounter ?

There is no single "right answer" here.

If you had time to apply full power and then climb away from the birds
before hitting them (without making radical evasive maneuvers), that's
probably best.

However, if you are low and slow on short final and happen to fly
through a flock of birds (as you seem to describe) then continuing the
landing and then evaluating the situation on the ground sounds like the
better plan. That flock of birds may damage your plane, but they are
unlikely to slow you down.

On my very first landing in a single-seat sailplane, I solidly hit a
bird just as I rolled onto final approach. Naturally, going around
wasn't a possibility in that glider, but I wouldn't have considered it
in any case. There is no better place to evaluate possible airframe
damage than standing on the ground next to the aircraft you just safely
landed.

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Hi All

thanks for your comments , I agree over-reacting is worse .

Pablo