Deer Strike

Make sure to check the aircraft parts for deer fur or fuz.. evidence for the
insurance company.

I've "dodged" more than a couple of shadows over the years.. always been on
the luckier side of the out come. Never any damage to the plane.. only hit
one... and that one thump was not good for the deer.

Touch and Go in the Bone.. just at lift off a deer in the headlights.. never
felt the thump but we had the SOF check the runway before we came back..
sure enough.. deer with broken back.. now which part of the B-1 did he
hit?.. precautionary landing after they dragged the deer clear.. could only
find some fur on the main gear trucks.

Another night we hit a snowy owl on final.. spooked the co-pilot as he
flashed past the wind screen, a tough and go turned into a full stop.. post
flight check.. no windshield damage.. grease streak down the right side..
arched up and over the wing.. so he cleared the engines.. did leave some DNA
evidence behind on some of the aircraft seams.. missed the tail.

At Loring AFB ME, they used to have to check the runway at night for Moose,
before the after dark departures and arrivals. The "Moose is Loose" air
shows were always a good time.

BT

"John T" wrote in message
m...
It happened to me August 29, 2006.

I went out for night currency with a short hop to Winchester, VA (KOKV). I
flew there VFR since the only clouds in the forecast would be up in the
Class A realm. Besides, I don't fly VFR in the DC ADIZ very often and I
could use the practice there, too.

The only interesting thing at KOKV were the birds. It's not often I see
birds (not bats) flying around well after dark, but there were a few
sandpipers flitting around Winchester.

The flight home to Leesburg, VA (KJYO) from my night currency landings at
Winchester was uneventful. The landing, on the other hand, had a bit of a
surprise in store.

Rounding out on final, I had the numbers nailed and came in over the
threshold right at 65 MPH indicated (yes, MPH, not knots). Just after the
nose gear touched, I saw a shadow cross the center line from right to left
and into the beam of the landing light: Deer! A split second later came a
thump and a slight pull to the right which was easily corrected.

The engine remained running fine with no unusual vibrations or noises so I
pulled off the runway at the first turn-off, cleaned up the aircraft and
scanned around for damage. As my scan came to the starboard horizontal
stabilizer, I saw in the faint light bent metal and busted fiberglass. It
was painfully obvious the thump I'd felt was not something being run over
by my landing gear as I'd desperately hoped, but rather a second deer.

I parked the plane in its usual spot and assessed the damage. Sure enough,
the starboard stabilizer had its leading corner busted and bent back with
the rear corner twisted back over the trim tab. It was also twisted back
enough that the corner connecting to the empennage was pulled out almost 2
inches. There was wrinkling on the starboard side of the empennage and
vertical stabilizer and the beacon was knocked loose from the fiberglass
cap. Well, "knocked loose" may be a bit of a misnomer as there was a bit
of fiberglass still attached to the beacon which was left hanging by the
power cords. The damage to the port side was worse as the force of the
impact evidently twisted the entire tail section to the port side. Also,
the impact appears to have severed at least one of the control connections
as the control lock was in the yoke, but I was able to move the elevator
almost from stop to stop.

I walked back to the scene of the impact to pull the carcass off the
runway - after all, there's no sense leaving it there for the next poor
soul to land - but there was nothing on the runway. Not even a blood
trail. The only apparent evidence of the culprit was the appearance of two
pairs of green eyes reflecting my flashlight beam at the edge of the
woodline west of the field and they ran off when I approached. After the
damage done to the plane, I was hoping to have something to at least kick.

All things considered, I was lucky. This may end up being minor compared
to the damage that could have been caused had the first deer struck the
prop.

Pics and vids posted on my site for interested parties.

--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/TknoFlyer
Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework: http://spf.pobox.com
____________________

The state of Kansas reports about 10,000 deer/vehicle
collision a year, most are cars and trucks. My son lives in
a very rural area and has had several vehicles damaged by
deer, only one carcass recovered.

Be sure to inspect the entire tail cone for remote damage
caused by the lever effect of the strike.

Good idea for all night landings at quiet airports, a noisy
low pass to move the deer away from the runway. Not a
perfect solution, but it should help.



--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"John T" wrote in message
m...
| It happened to me August 29, 2006.
|
| I went out for night currency with a short hop to
Winchester, VA (KOKV). I
| flew there VFR since the only clouds in the forecast would
be up in the
| Class A realm. Besides, I don't fly VFR in the DC ADIZ
very often and I
| could use the practice there, too.
|
| The only interesting thing at KOKV were the birds. It's
not often I see
| birds (not bats) flying around well after dark, but there
were a few
| sandpipers flitting around Winchester.
|
| The flight home to Leesburg, VA (KJYO) from my night
currency landings at
| Winchester was uneventful. The landing, on the other
hand, had a bit of a
| surprise in store.
|
| Rounding out on final, I had the numbers nailed and came
in over the
| threshold right at 65 MPH indicated (yes, MPH, not knots).
Just after the
| nose gear touched, I saw a shadow cross the center line
from right to left
| and into the beam of the landing light: Deer! A split
second later came a
| thump and a slight pull to the right which was easily
corrected.
|
| The engine remained running fine with no unusual
vibrations or noises so I
| pulled off the runway at the first turn-off, cleaned up
the aircraft and
| scanned around for damage. As my scan came to the
starboard horizontal
| stabilizer, I saw in the faint light bent metal and busted
fiberglass. It
| was painfully obvious the thump I'd felt was not something
being run over by
| my landing gear as I'd desperately hoped, but rather a
second deer.
|
| I parked the plane in its usual spot and assessed the
damage. Sure enough,
| the starboard stabilizer had its leading corner busted and
bent back with
| the rear corner twisted back over the trim tab. It was
also twisted back
| enough that the corner connecting to the empennage was
pulled out almost 2
| inches. There was wrinkling on the starboard side of the
empennage and
| vertical stabilizer and the beacon was knocked loose from
the fiberglass
| cap. Well, "knocked loose" may be a bit of a misnomer as
there was a bit of
| fiberglass still attached to the beacon which was left
hanging by the power
| cords. The damage to the port side was worse as the force
of the impact
| evidently twisted the entire tail section to the port
side. Also, the impact
| appears to have severed at least one of the control
connections as the
| control lock was in the yoke, but I was able to move the
elevator almost
| from stop to stop.
|
| I walked back to the scene of the impact to pull the
carcass off the
| runway - after all, there's no sense leaving it there for
the next poor soul
| to land - but there was nothing on the runway. Not even a
blood trail. The
| only apparent evidence of the culprit was the appearance
of two pairs of
| green eyes reflecting my flashlight beam at the edge of
the woodline west of
| the field and they ran off when I approached. After the
damage done to the
| plane, I was hoping to have something to at least kick.
|
| All things considered, I was lucky. This may end up being
minor compared to
| the damage that could have been caused had the first deer
struck the prop.
|
| Pics and vids posted on my site for interested parties.
|
| --
| John T
| http://sage1solutions.com/TknoFlyer
| Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework:
http://spf.pobox.com
| ____________________
|
|

The deer have a greater right to be there than you do bozo. The deer are on
the ground walking and you're flying around in an unnatural contrivance in
order to satisfy your need for ego gratification. No sympathy here.


"John T" wrote in message
m...
It happened to me August 29, 2006.

I went out for night currency with a short hop to Winchester, VA (KOKV). I
flew there VFR since the only clouds in the forecast would be up in the
Class A realm. Besides, I don't fly VFR in the DC ADIZ very often and I
could use the practice there, too.

The only interesting thing at KOKV were the birds. It's not often I see
birds (not bats) flying around well after dark, but there were a few
sandpipers flitting around Winchester.

The flight home to Leesburg, VA (KJYO) from my night currency landings at
Winchester was uneventful. The landing, on the other hand, had a bit of a
surprise in store.

Rounding out on final, I had the numbers nailed and came in over the
threshold right at 65 MPH indicated (yes, MPH, not knots). Just after the
nose gear touched, I saw a shadow cross the center line from right to left
and into the beam of the landing light: Deer! A split second later came a
thump and a slight pull to the right which was easily corrected.

The engine remained running fine with no unusual vibrations or noises so I
pulled off the runway at the first turn-off, cleaned up the aircraft and
scanned around for damage. As my scan came to the starboard horizontal
stabilizer, I saw in the faint light bent metal and busted fiberglass. It
was painfully obvious the thump I'd felt was not something being run over
by my landing gear as I'd desperately hoped, but rather a second deer.

I parked the plane in its usual spot and assessed the damage. Sure enough,
the starboard stabilizer had its leading corner busted and bent back with
the rear corner twisted back over the trim tab. It was also twisted back
enough that the corner connecting to the empennage was pulled out almost 2
inches. There was wrinkling on the starboard side of the empennage and
vertical stabilizer and the beacon was knocked loose from the fiberglass
cap. Well, "knocked loose" may be a bit of a misnomer as there was a bit
of fiberglass still attached to the beacon which was left hanging by the
power cords. The damage to the port side was worse as the force of the
impact evidently twisted the entire tail section to the port side. Also,
the impact appears to have severed at least one of the control connections
as the control lock was in the yoke, but I was able to move the elevator
almost from stop to stop.

I walked back to the scene of the impact to pull the carcass off the
runway - after all, there's no sense leaving it there for the next poor
soul to land - but there was nothing on the runway. Not even a blood
trail. The only apparent evidence of the culprit was the appearance of two
pairs of green eyes reflecting my flashlight beam at the edge of the
woodline west of the field and they ran off when I approached. After the
damage done to the plane, I was hoping to have something to at least kick.

All things considered, I was lucky. This may end up being minor compared
to the damage that could have been caused had the first deer struck the
prop.

Pics and vids posted on my site for interested parties.

--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/TknoFlyer
Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework: http://spf.pobox.com
____________________

("r. mutt" wrote)
The deer have a greater right to be there than you do bozo. The deer are
on the ground walking and you're flying around in an unnatural contrivance
in order to satisfy your need for ego gratification. No sympathy here.


Who conferred upon deer this right?


Montblack

Well I guess I will have to right off this post as well. We do people
have to get into ****ing contests over **** that doesn't matter or
isn't even related to the post whatsoever! How about wishing the fellow
well and thanking goodness that he was able to walk away from this
incident. I have been on short final in that same area with
students{warrenton} and had to go around because the deer does the
usual thing and looks at ya! I am now in SC flying and flying for a
gentleman in and out of a grass strip in edisto sc. I have had deer
looking at me as I taxi by them in the baron for take off. All the
while praying "please stay in the woods please stay in the woods" Deer
are a real serious hazard! I know a company that flew both a king air
90 and a Citation II and the owner hit a deer with king air totalling
the king air. Now that is serious damage folks.
I feel to many people take for granted the fact that nothing is coming
out at you once down on the runway. In the circumstances stated the
poor guy with the cessna had now chance of avoiding the impact. So take
that into account folks even when we do everything right something can
go terribly wrong! Ok enough of the profit of doom. Did i mention what
a great day of flying we had here in SC/GA. I really love picking my
way around t-storms{said in a sarcastic tone} YUM.
Happy flying to all!

matt tiberii
CFI CFII
Com asel amel ases
Montblack wrote:
("r. mutt" wrote)
The deer have a greater right to be there than you do bozo. The deer are
on the ground walking and you're flying around in an unnatural contrivance
in order to satisfy your need for ego gratification. No sympathy here.


Who conferred upon deer this right?


Montblack

"Huck" wrote

Well I guess I will have to right off this post as well. We do people
have to get into ****ing contests over **** that doesn't matter or
isn't even related to the post whatsoever! How about wishing the fellow
well and thanking goodness that he was able to walk away from this
incident.

I think that was in the posts, back a bit. (quite a bit) It is usual to
have thread drift, and opposing viewpoints, especially when it comes to
animal rights, ect. The animal rights people are very vocal, and have
strong beliefs, and there will always be someone to call them on it.

So really, don't be so down. It really was a pretty minor escalation, all
things considered.

In case nobody did wish the guy well, and give thanks for his safety, I
will. I've had a tangle with a deer, and it was only a 6 month old, but it
sure busted up my car. There isn't a damn thing you can do about it; just
say oh well, and go on with it.

Same with this thread.

See ya!
--
Jim in NC

"Huck" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have been on short final in that same area with
students{warrenton} and had to go around because
the deer does the usual thing and looks at ya! I am
now in SC flying and flying for a gentleman in and
out of a grass strip in edisto sc. I have had deer
looking at me as I taxi by them in the baron for
take off. All the while praying "please stay in the
woods please stay in the woods" Deer are a real
serious hazard!

I think that it depends upon the area of the country that you are in...
While up in Iowa, I heard a lot about people hitting deer... While driving
through Mississippi on the way from New Orlean to Iowa, I often encountered
large numbers of deer on the side of the highway at night, but none of them
got spooked and bolted across the road... Hell, I saw more deer along the
highway in one spot than I have in multiple deer hunting seasons...

My first flight into the Slidell, LA airport allowed me to be greeted by a
turkey walking across the runway... As I'm rolling out towards him, he
doesn't pick up speed or anything... He just continues his slow walk across
the runway... I moved to the left side of the runway a bit and let him
pass... My right wing probably went over the top of him, but he appeared
totally unfazed by it... As if aircraft landing by him is a totally normal
occurance...

"r. mutt" nofishin.net wrote:

The deer have a greater right to be there than you do bozo. The deer are on
the ground walking and you're flying around in an unnatural contrivance in
order to satisfy your need for ego gratification. No sympathy here.

LOL.

Do you suppose the deer would have to show ID to the TSA had they spotted
him/her running around on the runway?

--
Peter

The deer have a greater right to be there than you do bozo. The deer
are on
the ground walking and you're flying around in an unnatural contrivance
in
order to satisfy your need for ego gratification. No sympathy here.

Huck: Just kill file this Bozo, who is obviously a troll, and go on with
it. He is not worth getting your blood pressure up over. Notice I had to
respond second hand, cuz I already had him in the dumpster.
--
Jim in NC

"John T" wrote in message
m...
It happened to me August 29, 2006.


Well John, You will be happy to know that you will be able to safely fly to
my local airport ELD soon without worrying about deer. They have just gotten
federal funding to spend over $1 million to build a seven foot high fence
all the way around the place specifically to keep deer out.

The funds are out there so maybe you need to get your airport manager to
work on getting some.