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Emergency Goggles & Bird Strikes

wera710

wera710

Well Known Member
Well, after three near bird strikes last few weeks (Vultures the size of C-180s and an Eagle that was looking as disconcerted as I was!), I finally broke down and dug out my 90’s era issue military goggles. Talking about the current iteration of the old WW2 Polaroid B8/M-1944 goggles, now days known and still issued as “Goggles, Sun, Wind and Dust.” If you are not former military, you can find them brand spanking new online for about $12.00. They come with one tinted and one clear lens.

The nice thing about them is that they come in a cardboard storage box that can be velcro’d to the floor of the RV-8 underneath the seat pan, aft and to the left or right of the stick. Totally out of the way until needed in an emergency. I am sure the storage box would fit well in other RVs as well.

Granted, they won’t help you initially if you are not wearing them and take a hit, but if something does come through the canopy and you survive, you at least have a tight fitting goggle immediately on hand that can be put on for your attempt at bringing your wounded bird home. They seal very well will be far more effective than eye glasses.

I’ve always thought it prudent to keep actual goggles in any aircraft flown near migratory or permanent flocks of large birds, but it took a vulture missing me by a few feet to finally get me off my duff to do something about it. If you are of like mind, just put some adhesive backed hook and loop fasteners on the goggle box and an out of the way, but instantly accessible place in your cockpit. Cut a small finger hole in the box top to make it easy to pry open in a hurry. Then forget it until you need it. Cheap insurance!

Here is a link to images: https://www.google.com/search?q=gog...HO_nsASI2oKgBw&ved=0CIQBELAE&biw=1277&bih=718
 
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If that vulture had come through......you would have needed a full face helment with 1/2 steel neck brace running up the back of your neck. Only then would your head still be attached to your body at the crash site.
 
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Not a bad idea Scott. However, you won't know until you try, heaven for bid, if you can manage to get them on your head.
 
tracy said:
If that vulture had come through......you would have needed a full face helment with 1/2 steel neck brace running up the back of your neck. Only then would your head still be attached to your body at the crash site.
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Exactly! I appreciate the discussion, but think how a 90 mph 6 oz fastball taken to the face would feel. Then think of the 5 lb bird to the face at 90 mph. It's not the face, it's the skull and neck.
 
Granted, if you get hit in the face it may well be all over and done. But, if all you have is a windy cockpit and some splatter on your face, goggles might be a big help.

I hope to never find out.
 
The plexi would knock down a lot of that mentioned 90mph velocity. Not saying it would be fun...
 
Actual Experience

I had a seagull come through the laminated glass in a Coast Guard helicopter over the beach on the Oregon Coast. We were at 100 or so knots, it completely shattered the glass, the body was lodged in the cut out, and the co-pilot was spitting out shards of glass from his mouth. It happened so fast we didn't even see it coming up from beneath. I doubt the RV windscreen would hold up, unless you got some kind of a glancing bounce.

Jerry Folkerts
 
Bill_H said:
The plexi would knock down a lot of that mentioned 90mph velocity. Not saying it would be fun...
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Now double the speed (or more), because most of us fly well north of 150 MPH.

Low Pass is right on. A direct hit to the head and you are dead. End of story.

However, wearing a helmet is the better option because it is more likely to stay on your head during a glancing blow.
 
Hopefully the prop takes care of some of that mass. There are too many GA aircraft that would withstand a bird of that size in cruise.

I hit a Canadian goose on final during my private training and ended up lodged in the leading edge. A couple years ago I had a windscreen busted pretty good in an E-170 by what I can only guess was a pterodactyl. It was after midnight over Lake Pontchatrain going into MSY and it woke me up to say the least.
 
I think helmets and visors look dorky in civilian aircraft. But they are a very practical way to add serious protection to your eyes, face, and head, whether we're talking bird strike or off-airport landing.

I don't own one, but if I routinely flew at low altitudes along the coast or in other areas that have high bird populations, I might. Dorky looking is OK if it saves your life.
 
A large piece of plexi stuck in your forehead topped with splattened bird looks "dorky"er. :eek:

Bevan
 
A large piece of plexi stuck in your forehead topped with splattened bird looks "dorky"er. :eek: We're not riding in the back of some widebody jet afterall. Wearing seatbelts in cars was also considered "unnecesary" at one time, and eventually became the norm.

Bevan
 
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while others are cutting their seat backs down, I extended mine to make a headrest. the passenger doesn't get one because it would make getting to the luggage area near impossible.
 
Keep them out of the cockpit...

How about some of these new window films? Apparently there are some that are near "bullet resistant". I'd much rather invest in hardening the windscreen than investing in more secondary measures.

Any other windscreen reinforcement ideas?
 
Anyway you look it at it's a great idea to carry one just in case. Great idea Scott and thanks for sharing your idea, hope it will help someone one day.
 
The good news in RVs I think is the, in general, good slope to the front of the canopies. I hit a bird in the RV-4 once flying near cruise speed and it splattered guts all over the place but glanced off without breaking the canopy. It was a small bird (I think) and a larger one might have ended up in my face. In any event the force vector would not have been normal to me in any event.

Google, face shields, anything to protect the eyesight is probably a good idea. I can still fly spitting plexi shards and goose guts out of my mouth (at least that is my story until proven otherwise) but don't claim to be able to fly if I can't see?.
 
We have a blue heron at OXR who has taken to hanging out at the east end of the runway.

I suppose if I'm going to learn formation takeoffs, it might as well be with a blue heron. The formation is usually short-lived; I outrun him on the takeoff roll, but I'd hate to meet up with him on the way back in. We have no way to coordinate comms.
 
Paragliding Helmet with Visor

TZ-carbon-01-L_1.jpg
 
Thanks for the idea; I'll probably keep a couple pair in the plane (once finished) to cover those possible situations that fall in between "sparrow at 50 kt glanced off the windshield" and "condor at 170 kt removes entire cockpit above panel".
 
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I have this helmet for my ppg. Never thought of using it in the 8. I need to get the visor.
 
Tracy, looking at it further I suspect the visor when flipped up would hit the canopy easily if you turned your head at all... So it may not be completely ideal. I was thinking a tinted visor for the sun, that you could tip up if it got dark, would be nice... But if I can't turn my head... :p
 
I was considering this one with an in-ear headset. I like this visor style. This helmet is the Icaro 2000 Fly. It is about $220.
fly-paragliding-helmet-3D.jpg

fly-helmet-colors.jpg
 
I couldn't say. I have to wear earplugs under these when flying the ppg and can barely hear communications over the radio.
 
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