F

fehdxl

Well Known Member
So this is what happens when you fly through a flock of birds indicating 170mph at 2000' agl. You miss most of them, but not all. The fix wasn't all too bad. As you can see, a little speed tape, a hole for pulling, and some strategically placed hammer blows; and she's ready to fly again. Some bondo and paint will follow at a later date.



Be safe,

-Jim
 
And on the bright side, you didn't have to ditch in the Hudson River! ;) Seriously though, glad you were unhurt, and only minimal damage to the airplane.
 
I am really starting to worry about birds at our airport. It used to be the only thing around on the flood plane of the Missouri river tucked between the St Louis County and St Charles. Only some well drained farmers fields and a under developed county park. Then after the 1993 flood (airport was under 14 ft of water) the Army Corps decided to put in a 500 year levey. Yea! Well what has happened is there now has been lots of development with roads, 25 more soccer fields, golf coarse, etc. Now there is no place for the water to drain and it just sits in large ponds and newly created wetland areas. Sort of a perfect bird sanctuary. The geese have gotten so bad they get hit on the roads by cars as there are massive flock around all the time. Every take-off and landing has flocks of birds flying through you flight path. Only a matter of time.
 
fehdxl said:
So this is what happens when you fly through a flock of birds indicating 170mph at 2000' agl. You miss most of them, but not all.
-Jim
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If you slow down they have time to get out of the way, not always, but 170 into a flock of birds is pretty fast. JMHO
 
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I've seen more hawks this spring than I have in the last 7 years of flying combined here in Minnesota. Something is favoring them, and they like to fly high.

plehrke said:
SNIP

Now there is no place for the water to drain and it just sits in large ponds and newly created wetland areas.

SNIP
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"Wetland area" = politically correct way of saying mosquito breeding grounds, formerly called swamps or muckholes!
 
Geico266 said:
If you slow down they have time tio get out of the way, not always, but 170 into a flock of birds is pretty fast. JMHO
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A couple more bits of advice that the "old guard", like my original CFI, passed on back in the day, that might be something to add to the bag of tricks if you see birds, and have time to get 'em done:

Go up to avoid them, as birds tend to fold their wings and dive to get out of the way.

Turn on your landing light...might sound silly, but it might catch that bird's sharp eyes and have them take evasive action. Another good reason to have it on entering and leaving the pattern (which y'all probably already do) where B1-RDs (and airplanes ;)) like to hang out.

Tough situation with a big flock like you ran into Jim, and glad it was "only" a wing strike, and that all went well. Nice fix!

Cheers,
Bob
 
AlexPeterson said:
I've seen more hawks this spring than I have in the last 7 years of flying combined here in Minnesota. Something is favoring them, and they like to fly high.

"Wetland area" = politically correct way of saying mosquito breeding grounds, formerly called swamps or muckholes!
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I also have seen many more hawks and eagles this year then normal. A lot of them winter here in STL as the rivers are open fishing areas here all winter look for them.

Yes to the PC mosquito breeding areas. Where I grew up in Oakdale/Maplewood MN we had a large wetland area behind the house. Mosquitos large enough to carry off a small dog are a fond memory of my youth.
 
Sorry about the strikes.

I am sorry about the bird strikes.

I am glad you and your craft will be ok.

It does bring up something I have been thinking about this week.

How do the RV's hold up to direct bird strikes to the windshield.

It seems like that might be a life altering/extinguishing experience with a larger bird at enough speed?:eek:

Does anyone have experience or data on this?
 
In one of the past posts on the subject of bird strikes someone posted that the Germans painted their spinners 2/3rds black and 1/3rd light to frighten the birds away during WW II.

I did some checking this seems to be the case, or the equivalent of German urban legend.

My airport, Goose Creek, has a good number of geese and buzzards. Neither bird is one I would like to hit. So over the last week I took my spinner home and painted it to see if this made any difference. Only, I messed up and painted it 1/3rd black and 2/3rds aluminum.

1.9 hours of flight yesterday I'm happy to report that I didn't hit any birds. When and if I ever do, I'll let y'all know.
 
There was an earlier thread on whether birds can make it through a spinning prop and it was concluded they can easily and therefore hit the windshield. In that thread someone mentioned the Germans in WWII painted contrasted spinner colors so the birds could see them coming. I looked it up and birds see flicker much better than humans and should see a spinner flickering at 2400 rpm easily. So if you have a high bird concentation it is worth the effort to paint your spinner, it can not hurt anything. Actually I tried it with colored tape and it kind of looks cool at idle.

p.s Bill it looks like you and I anwsered at the same time. Great minds...
 
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1/3 of my spinner is white, rest of it is red. I painted it about 150 hrs ago and no bird strikes or close calls, so far.
Prior to painting, I had two near misses and both were big.
 
Bruce,

I have the spinner back in the basement and need to repaint it as there is a problem with the paint, I wonder if I should change it to 2/3 black and 1/3 silver?

I will probably do that as all the paint on there is going to get sanded off now anyway.

Bill
 
Thanks for the info.

Danny7 said:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=38751
A. Don't hit ducks or big birds of prey. B. don't hit anything flying:p

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=24147
painting the spinner, other countermeasures
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Thank you very much:)
Both those threads were very informative.

I am thinking some thicker lexan for the front windscreen. I have a local company that may be interested in making me one for the right price. If I do (it would be a while I start the fuselage next month) I will report back.

I do believe that flying with my super bright Theissen ACL on and having a funny looking spinner would also be worth my time.

Again, Thx x 2
 
Bill,

I took lessons at 28A back in the late 80's. The Ed and Liz Lee used to own several rental aircraft there. I believe that they are living in retirment at Unity Airport down by Lancaster. I miss the Charlotte area!

Eric Popper
 
Hey Eric,

Goose is probably different than you remember. The grass strip is gone, replaced by 2300' of pavement that end at Lawyers Road.

Ed and Liz sold out to a guy named Lynn and he sold it a few years back to the current owner Mike. Mike sold his RV-4 a few years back to buy an Ultimate but does post on the forum from time to time.

If you knew Mike Munn, he had a C-170 back then and learned to fly about that time. He now has an RV-8 but isn't based there.

Currently there are an RV-10, RV-9, RV-7A, RV-4, RV-6A w/ rotary, and an RV-7 all based there.

Hugo wiped out most of the hangars back in '93 or was it '94? So I'm sure it is completely different now.
 
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