VansAirForceForums  
Home > VansAirForceForums

- POSTING RULES
- Donate yearly (please).
- Advertise in here!

- Today's Posts | Insert Pics


Go Back   VAF Forums > Main > RV General Discussion/News
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #21  
Old 05-11-2010, 05:08 AM
pierre smith's Avatar
pierre smith pierre smith is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Louisville, Ga
Posts: 7,840
Default Do whatever it takes...

..to miss big birds. Believe me, I've spent more money because of buzzards and hawk strikes on my Air Tractor than I care to remember.

Which color should be the 1/3? The lighter color, or the darker? My Air Tractor is soon getting this treatment. The airplane is yellow with a Navy-blue stripe, as in my avatar,

Thanks,
__________________
Pierre Smith
RV-10, 510 TT
RV6A (Sojourner) 180 HP, Catto 3 Bl (502Hrs), gone...and already missed
Air Tractor AT 502B PT 6-15 Sold
Air Tractor 402 PT-6-20 Sold
EAA Flight Advisor/CFI/Tech Counselor
Louisville, Ga

It's never skill or craftsmanship that completes airplanes, it's the will to do so,
Patrick Kenny, EAA 275132


Dues gladly paid!
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 05-11-2010, 05:47 AM
Rick6a's Avatar
Rick6a Rick6a is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Lake St. Louis, MO.
Posts: 2,346
Default

With great interest, I've read this and a similar thread on the same subject in Dec. 2007:
http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ht=bird&page=2
and suspect that given the relatively high RPMs our Lycomings operate in cruise settings, the strobe effect produced regardless of the
ratio of light to dark contrasting colors may not render a result nearly as pronounced compared to say...WWII fighter planes fitted
with slower turning radial engines and such. I wonder if an appropriately proportioned spiral pattern painted on our higher turning
engine/spinner would produce a dramatic effect? Anyone tried that? Thoughts?

__________________
Rick Galati
RV6A N307R"Darla!"
RV-8 N308R "LuLu"
EAA Technical Counselor
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 05-11-2010, 11:20 PM
PropMan PropMan is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Donie,Texas
Posts: 199
Default Patty Wagstaff ...

may have an answer for us. Here is a pic I took of her plane at Airventure a few years back.
__________________
Frank
RV6-N164FJ sold sadly
Legal Eagle w/Verner 3VW
Rans S7s
RV4- in progress
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 05-12-2010, 10:31 PM
Black8's Avatar
Black8 Black8 is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Birmingham,Alabama
Posts: 62
Default

Here is the spinner I painted on the 8 I built. [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]
__________________
Joel McMillian VAF#1954

Last edited by Black8 : 05-12-2010 at 10:38 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 05-13-2010, 01:10 AM
rvmills's Avatar
rvmills rvmills is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Reno, NV
Posts: 2,125
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by ignacio View Post
the A-320's at my job have a white spiral on the centerbody "nose cone". these paintings are per manual. of course not all of them have it. same explanation, bird deter, works really good....they hit the eng inlets and leading edges instead of the eng fan blades....lol
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick6a View Post
Snip>...I wonder if an appropriately proportioned spiral pattern painted on our higher turning
engine/spinner would produce a dramatic effect? Anyone tried that? Thoughts?
I was always under the impression that the spiral stripe was to alert ground crew to a turning engine...no spiral, or moving spiral...stay clear. Never heard it as a bird deterrent, but that doesn't mean it aint so!

Quote:
Originally Posted by pierre smith View Post
..to miss big birds. Believe me, I've spent more money because of buzzards and hawk strikes on my Air Tractor than I care to remember.

Which color should be the 1/3? The lighter color, or the darker? My Air Tractor is soon getting this treatment. The airplane is yellow with a Navy-blue stripe, as in my avatar,

Thanks,
Pierre, if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say the lighter should be the 1/3...seems the lighter color would reflect more light and the smaller part would give more strobe effect. But that's an absolute lay guess.

It is a facinating discussion, and an important topic. Wonder what the "frame rate" of a bird's eyeball is. Maybe we can run a ground test with a parrot at 500' and see which spinner makes him say "Whoa" first! And that's not a poke at the topic...it is an important one. I'd really like to know the frame rate of a Canadian Goose's eyeballs!

It'd be neat to find out how to really test this...but even without tests, the spinners look cool that way, so why not...might have to try it. FWIW, I've also been taught that landing lights and weather radar are effective deterrents as well. No radar in my RV of course, but I use it at work if ATIS mentions birds, and use the LLs there and in the RV. Can't say I've never hit a bird, though thankfully only a couple small ones (that lost the fight, poor buggers) and none in the RV so far!

Cheers,
Bob
__________________
Bob Mills
RV-6 "Rocket Six" N49VM
Reno-Stead, NV (KRTS)
President/Sport 47/49, Sport Class Air Racing
President, Formation Flying Inc (FFI)
Flight Lead, Lightning Formation Airshows
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 05-13-2010, 08:11 AM
kenora kenora is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Posts: 40
Default

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2487/...88a8be1e46.jpg

here is a pretty good shot of a similar paint job in action....

My weekend job has me flying the tow plane here...we paint the spinner 1/2 black and 1/2 white and have alternating stripes on the
front of the blades. Side benifit is that its very visible on the ground (from the front).
Since we spend all day every day in the pattern and haven't had a bird strike in years (that I recall) I would have to say its a winner.
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 05-13-2010, 10:42 AM
Sig600 Sig600 is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: KRTS
Posts: 1,798
Default

FWIW, I've hit birds with and without that paint scheme on the spinner. Towed banners in college and we tried it, still mowed them down like grass.

I've also sucked birds down the motor of a 40K # Hornet in the landing pattern. They don't care what your paint job is, how big it is, etc. It's all a **** shoot. If you don't like the look, don't paint it. I personally don't think it buys you anything. Most big buzzards and what not are looking down most of the time anyway. I've seen literally hundreds not dive away until after I had passed them.
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 05-13-2010, 04:50 PM
Lux Wrangler Lux Wrangler is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 110
Default being constructive

Quote:
I've hit birds with and without that paint scheme on the spinner.
-Sig600
More than one paint scheme has been discussed. Which paint scheme do you mean by "that scheme"? what were the colors? what was the spacing?, or pattern(s)? what was the spinner size? what was the speed(s) at time of impact? what were the bird species hit?, raptors?, prey birds? otherwise your comment isn't of much constructive use.
__________________
Jim Peck
San Francisco Bay Area
RV-7
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 05-14-2010, 11:34 PM
lostpilot28's Avatar
lostpilot28 lostpilot28 is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Boise, ID
Posts: 1,095
Default

I hope this idea makes sense...but why would you have to paint the spinner 1/3 white, 2/3 dark? If our engines spin too fast to have a strobe effect, wouldn't it make sense to make the pattern smaller, like 1/6 white on a black spinner? I don't know...maybe it's too late at night for my brain to be thinking about this stuff!
__________________
Sonny W
Boise, Idaho
RV-7A Flying!
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 05-16-2010, 08:21 AM
smithhb's Avatar
smithhb smithhb is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Blue Ridge, Georgia
Posts: 247
Default

I went 1/4th white and 3/4 blue. We have an old B-24 pilot here who told me they tested several patterns during WWII and the most effective was the 25%/75% color ratio.

We'll see. Ain't hit a bird yet.

__________________
Bret Smith
RV-9A Flying (N16BL)
Blue Ridge, GA
EAA Technical Counselor #5429
APRS Tracking
http://www.FlightInnovations.com
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:40 AM.


The VAFForums come to you courtesy Delta Romeo, LLC. By viewing and participating in them you agree to build your plane using standardized methods and practices and to fly it safely and in accordance with the laws governing the country you are located in.