Bird strike(s)

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:rVHbf.520936

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

Probably a good deal worse. Consider Atlas sitting still, and a 10lb goose
hitting your windshield at 125 kt.


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

All some time ago: 1. returning LGA-EWB w/ 1 pax late evening in a c402
at 7500 ft, about 170 kt, iirc. Terrifically loud boom, like a gunshot,
woke us both up bg. No damage, but some light smearing near the top of
the windshield. Windshield on 402 is quite slanted.

2. Landing EWB in a 402, had a flock of gulls rise up and cross my path
right to left just as i was flaring (about 80kt). heard and felt several
loud, solid thumps. later counted eight impact points, five on the stbd
wing leading edge. required replacement of leading edge assy. got a note
from the owner in my next paycheck lambasting me, insisting that birdstrikes
are "pilot error", and we must give the gulls right-of-way. I still have
the note.

3. a good friend at the same commuter took off one day EWB-LGA in a
Bandierante and caught a gull just on the top of the nose assy just after
t/o. the bird slid up the nose and snagged and eviscerated itself on the
Cpt windshield wiper assy. Nice view all the way to NYC.

Never had a strike I was aware of in transports.

You can be cautious, and try to avoid or observe areas with known bird
problems, but in my opinion, unless you are well trained and skilled at
judging relative speed and motion of two moving bodies, trying to take
evasive action can be more dangerous than the strike itself.

On Mon, 7 Nov 2005 12:31:56 -0500, "John Gaquin"
wrote:



You can be cautious, and try to avoid or observe areas with known bird
problems, but in my opinion, unless you are well trained and skilled at
judging relative speed and motion of two moving bodies, trying to take
evasive action can be more dangerous than the strike itself.

I agree - I'm always amazed at how difficult it is to judge closing
speeds and relative positions with soaring hawks - they change
direction and altitude so quickly with no visual clues.

However, you probably can't depend on the bird to take appropriate
evasive action. Birds evolved flying skills and maneuvers that didn't
have to deal with anything like an airplane. Kind of like hitting a
mammal with your car - you can't really expect that the
deer/raccoon/skunk etc. will be smart enough to avoid your 60 MPH
vehicle. I suspect the reason number of bird strikes is so low is
mainly because the big sky theory is at work to protect us 99.9% of
the time.


Michael