RV-4 Turkey Vulture Birdstrike in FL
 

An EAA chapter member of mine had an encounter with a turkey vulture 2 weeks after he purchased this beautiful RV4. Fortunately, He was able to fly it back the 40 miles to his home base in Brooksville, FL (KBKV) after the tower confirmed he still had his gear intact. This is an amazing feat considering the damage incurred. It just goes to show how incredibly strong these aircraft are engineered.
We checked the wing alignment Saturday to insure the spare had not been compromised. It had not.
We'll be able assess in more detail once the wing skin is removed.

http://www.3dsky.us/rv7/images/img_1942.jpg
http://www.3dsky.us/rv7/images/img_1940.jpg

Holy C---
 

Wow that's amazing... how did the plane fly after that damage?
Just goes to show how little Bernoulli's principle contributes to lift...

Hey! Hand me that 5 gallon bucket of Bondo.

Bondo?... What's that?!

Impressive damage.. Is anyone aware of a bird strike to the canopy in an RV-4? I see the results often on the military side and know what specifications we put on tactical aircraft windscreens. As my face sits 10" from the fwd windscreen I've been curious to wee what if any testing has been done or what real world encounter is out there and the end result?

He's done a **** good job getting it on the ground in one piece, I can't imagine that amount of damage did any good for the aerodynamics of the wing. Though I'd be pi$$ed if that happened to my 2-week-old RV...

One for the American's...What's the ruling for repairs like this? My understanding of our (Australian) Experimental category is the original builder can do "what he likes" but anything else needs to be OK'd by a LAME(A&P). Is that the same that side ofthe Pacific?

Picture too large
 

Can a moderator re-size these huge photos?

Or my 20 year old RV... :eek:

As it is made of the same material as the RV-8, and I have had quail come completely through mine, I can say with almost certainty that a bird of this size will (to quote Dirty Harry) "...take your head clean off".

holly crapola vanman! it is as i go out flying every day, # one to keep my eyes out side the cockpit for big birds 95% of the time. they can come up on you in a heartbeat. glad he got home safely. dan is a good man to help in the reconstruction. they seem to be more prevalent around late breakfast, the most important meal of the day.