Deer Strike

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
____________________

"John T" wrote

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.

Bummer. I'll bet that it gets very expensive, before it is all over and
done.

I think that deer stand along a road/runway, and say, "OK, let's see who can
make it over there last, and get closest to the car/plane, without getting
hit!"

Thing is, they are lousy judges of how close they can get. ;-(
--
Jim in NC

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
____________________

"Morgans" wrote in message news:OrOKg.3456

Thing is, they are lousy judges of how close they can get. ;-(


There's nothing in their brains that can reconcile another creature moving
at 45-60 mph.

"John Gaquin" wrote in message
. ..
There's nothing in their brains that can reconcile another creature moving
at 45-60 mph.

You say that based on what facts?

It may well be outside that particular deer's experience, or the deer may
well just be a poor judge of closing rate (especially in the dark with the
primary object viewed being an artificial light source). But I see no
reason to think that deer are inherently unable to comprehend and correctly
respond to another object moving 45-60 mph. What makes you think that they
are?

Pete

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
| ____________________
|
|

Because it is as fast as they move and when they meet a
faster predator (mountain lion or wolf) they get eaten.
When they meet humans they are either fed by slow walking
people or shot by fast moving bullets.



"Peter Duniho" wrote in
message ...
| "John Gaquin" wrote in message
| . ..
| There's nothing in their brains that can reconcile
another creature moving
| at 45-60 mph.
|
| You say that based on what facts?
|
| It may well be outside that particular deer's experience,
or the deer may
| well just be a poor judge of closing rate (especially in
the dark with the
| primary object viewed being an artificial light source).
But I see no
| reason to think that deer are inherently unable to
comprehend and correctly
| respond to another object moving 45-60 mph. What makes
you think that they
| are?
|
| Pete
|
|

"Jim Macklin" wrote in message
news:mVSKg.6853$SZ3.1572@dukeread04...
Because it is as fast as they move and when they meet a
faster predator (mountain lion or wolf) they get eaten.

Using that logic, humans are incapable of processing those kinds of speeds
as well.

Either your logic is incorrect, or we shouldn't be flying airplanes.

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"John Gaquin" wrote in message
. ..
There's nothing in their brains that can reconcile another creature
moving at 45-60 mph.

You say that based on what facts?


Observable behavior, and an explanation offered some years ago by a game
warden in response to essentially the same question.

If you have acceptable facts upon which to refute such a claim, please share
them.

We can learn and alter our perceptions. But to do so
safely, we have instructors and training. Or you can follow
the "Hey, watch this" learning method and the survivors
learn if they remember after the drunken state wears off.


Humans are incapable unless trained by life experiences.
The fact that cars still try to beat trains, that
pedestrians step out in front of cars, that ...

Remember, humans have a brain that can think ahead, animals
brains may remember, but an animal can not see a parked car
and think about the tires being flat, the driver drunk and
passed out, the paint shines but will fade in the sun, and
all the thousands of things humans do think about.


"Peter Duniho" wrote in
message ...
| "Jim Macklin" wrote
in message
| news:mVSKg.6853$SZ3.1572@dukeread04...
| Because it is as fast as they move and when they meet a
| faster predator (mountain lion or wolf) they get eaten.
|
| Using that logic, humans are incapable of processing those
kinds of speeds
| as well.
|
| Either your logic is incorrect, or we shouldn't be flying
airplanes.
|
|