Bird strike(s)

Paraphrased from Sport Aviation this month:

Hitting a Canada Goose exerts the same force as dropping a 1000 pound weight
10 feet.

Yikes! That would make mince-meat out of ANY GA aircraft.

We've got large flocks of (what appear to be) sea gulls congregating on our
field over the last few weeks. At this time of year we also get flocks of
migratory birds (ducks and geese) stopping over, too. The place looks like
a bird sanctuary.

I've come very close to hitting birds, but (knock on a burnt-orange Cessna
dashboard) thus far have gotten away clean. Last night, while landing in
the last glint of twilight, I saw a very large bird go zinging past me while
on short final. There was nothing I could do but cringe...

Anyone ever hit a bird? Anyone got a good bird avoidance plan they'd care
to share?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

We've got large flocks of (what appear to be) sea gulls congregating on our
field over the last few weeks. At this time of year we also get flocks of
migratory birds (ducks and geese) stopping over, too. The place looks like
a bird sanctuary.

It probably looks just as inviting to the birds as it does to us! You
know, big open spaces and all...

I've come very close to hitting birds, but (knock on a burnt-orange Cessna
dashboard) thus far have gotten away clean. Last night, while landing in
the last glint of twilight, I saw a very large bird go zinging past me while
on short final. There was nothing I could do but cringe...

Anyone ever hit a bird? Anyone got a good bird avoidance plan they'd care
to share?

Yes, but the federales won't let you mount gatling guns on your
Cherokee. Plus even if they did, you know they neighbors and PETA will
complain.

-jav

Yep, I hit what we think was a red tailed hawk at 3000 ft in a C182, right
in the windshield at 140 kts. Sounded like a shotgun went off inside the
cabin. Saw the bird about a nano-second before the BOOM. Didn't leave a
scratch on the plane, but guts were smeared up over the cabin roof and a few
fine feathers were jambed up between the windshield and the cabin roof. The
angle of the windshield of the 182 was pretty shallow and the bird hit up
near the top.

Also, in an Archer, I injested a small sparrow type bird into the air intake
on take off. Never knew it until after I landed and was taking a student
through a pre-flight lesson.

One other occassion I came close to hitting a pair of sandhill cranes while
practicing maneuvers. I'd guess they came within about 10 feet of the
wingtip, I could see their eyes easy enough, then watched them tumble away
from me as I flew past them.

Jim

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:rVHbf.520936$x96.436058@attbi_s72...
Paraphrased from Sport Aviation this month:

Hitting a Canada Goose exerts the same force as dropping a 1000 pound
weight
10 feet.

Yikes! That would make mince-meat out of ANY GA aircraft.

We've got large flocks of (what appear to be) sea gulls congregating on
our
field over the last few weeks. At this time of year we also get flocks of
migratory birds (ducks and geese) stopping over, too. The place looks
like
a bird sanctuary.

I've come very close to hitting birds, but (knock on a burnt-orange Cessna
dashboard) thus far have gotten away clean. Last night, while landing in
the last glint of twilight, I saw a very large bird go zinging past me
while
on short final. There was nothing I could do but cringe...

Anyone ever hit a bird? Anyone got a good bird avoidance plan they'd care
to share?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

You'd think the birds would learn to look out for you!

AJ

Jay Honeck wrote:
Paraphrased from Sport Aviation this month:

Hitting a Canada Goose exerts the same force as dropping a 1000 pound weight
10 feet.

Yikes! That would make mince-meat out of ANY GA aircraft.

We've got large flocks of (what appear to be) sea gulls congregating on our
field over the last few weeks. At this time of year we also get flocks of
migratory birds (ducks and geese) stopping over, too. The place looks like
a bird sanctuary.

I've come very close to hitting birds, but (knock on a burnt-orange Cessna
dashboard) thus far have gotten away clean. Last night, while landing in
the last glint of twilight, I saw a very large bird go zinging past me while
on short final. There was nothing I could do but cringe...

Anyone ever hit a bird? Anyone got a good bird avoidance plan they'd care
to share?

It brings to mind the old story of the testing (FAA?) done with a gun
that would shoot a chicken at a windshield. Unfortunately an
inexperienced tester bought a frozen chicken. (The momentum impulse
depends on the velocity, mass and compressibility.)

Jay,
I was told that birds like to dive down so the best way to avoid
hitting them is to pull the nose up. However, I have also read that
this may or may not work with different types of birds. I guess the
next best thing is to say a prayer providing that you have enough time
;-)

Hai Longworth

On 7 Nov 2005 06:50:05 -0800, "Longworth"
wrote:

Jay,
I was told that birds like to dive down so the best way to avoid
hitting them is to pull the nose up. However, I have also read that
this may or may not work with different types of birds. I guess the
next best thing is to say a prayer providing that you have enough time

Think of it this way. Ducks and Seagulls are brainless. Geese will
try to avoid you except a flight of them believe they have the
"right-of-way". :-)) Everything else is unpredictable.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
;-)

Hai Longworth

I was flying under the NY Class B near the Tappan Zee bridge a couple of
years ago. There was quite a bit of turbulence so it was difficult to hold
altitude better than 50-100 feet or so. Suddenly (I think I must have been
in some sink at the time) I was looking eyeball to eyeball with a flock of
6-10 Canada Geese, who seemed to appear from nowhere from below the
glareshield. They were slightly to my right, so I banked hard left, and
they did the same thing, I only had a second or so to watch them, but I
will never forget the expression on their faces. I swear they had their
tongues stuck in the sides of their beaks as they concentrated on the
maneuver. I could almost hear them shouting "Turn! Turn! Turn! as they
banked hard to their left, still in formation. We passed with ten feet or
so to spare. I was shaking for five minutes after that one.

An Aztec crashed a few years ago near here. The tailfeathers were found a
quarter mile from the rest of the airframe. There were no feathers or
blood, but the horizontal stabilizer had a big dent in it consistant with a
bird strike. Took the whole tail off. Be careful out there.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:rVHbf.520936$x96.436058@attbi_s72...
Paraphrased from Sport Aviation this month:

Hitting a Canada Goose exerts the same force as dropping a 1000 pound
weight 10 feet.

Yikes! That would make mince-meat out of ANY GA aircraft.

We've got large flocks of (what appear to be) sea gulls congregating on
our field over the last few weeks. At this time of year we also get
flocks of migratory birds (ducks and geese) stopping over, too. The place
looks like a bird sanctuary.

I've come very close to hitting birds, but (knock on a burnt-orange Cessna
dashboard) thus far have gotten away clean. Last night, while landing in
the last glint of twilight, I saw a very large bird go zinging past me
while on short final. There was nothing I could do but cringe...

Anyone ever hit a bird? Anyone got a good bird avoidance plan they'd care
to share?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Paraphrased from Sport Aviation this month:

Hitting a Canada Goose exerts the same force as dropping a 1000 pound weight
10 feet.

Yikes! That would make mince-meat out of ANY GA aircraft.

We've got large flocks of (what appear to be) sea gulls congregating on our
field over the last few weeks. At this time of year we also get flocks of
migratory birds (ducks and geese) stopping over, too. The place looks like
a bird sanctuary.

I've come very close to hitting birds, but (knock on a burnt-orange Cessna
dashboard) thus far have gotten away clean. Last night, while landing in
the last glint of twilight, I saw a very large bird go zinging past me while
on short final. There was nothing I could do but cringe...

Anyone ever hit a bird? Anyone got a good bird avoidance plan they'd care
to share?

Start shooting. They'll get the idea.

What idea? I've seen Canadian Geese get knocked off their feet by a golf
ball, roll-over, get up, and continue to eat and crap.

"Newps" wrote in message

Start shooting. They'll get the idea.