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Bird Strike!

W

wizard

Active Member
Flew through a flock of something black today. What do you think...repairable or construct new tank?



 
Ouch! Sorry to see that. Order up the parts for a new tank. All things considered, time to build a new one. Doable in a couple of weekends.
 
Man that's a bummer.:(

I guess if you do hit a bird, the tank isn't too bad of spot if it doesn't break it open. (Thicker skin and removable)
 
How did the aircraft behave after that?

I would build a new tank. You may be able to find someone close to you that does not need his tank right now. See if you could trade the tank while you build a new one. That way you won?t be down for long. I can?t tell what type of plane that is on the pics so the tank swapping may not work.

Sorry to see that but I am glad you are ok.
 
Thought so...

Well, I thought that would be the consensus. One good thing is I only finished a year ago...picking up the tools again shouldn't be too difficult. As far as flying characteristics, I felt no ill effects. My wife was the passenger. I asked her if she could see a dent, but the carnage and poor lighting hid any damage until we were on the ground. Blood and mashed guts on the fuse side, canopy and all over the empennage. Anyone in the Boise area have a tank for a -7 that they wouldn't mind lending until I can make another?
 
ouch...

Is it still leak free?

The tank is surely a goner. You have to figure that the tank rib is pretty well folded, as is the one next to it it seems. Deconstructing that one would be fairly ugly. Baffle, tank skins on the two ribs. Tank skin-- could a dent guy handle this?

I'm thinking it wouldn't be worth it... hang it on the wall. Polish the heck out of it and call it a good conversation piece.
 
New...

Yup, that thing is a wall ornament now. :eek:

Check with Van's on Monday. They may have a spare QB tank around that they may be able to part with. The other route would be to get a standard build replacement tank kit, and/or have Evan Johnson build you one.

http://www.evansaviationproducts.com/
 
Joe Blank said:
Yup, that thing is a wall ornament now. :eek:

Check with Van's on Monday. They may have a spare QB tank around that they may be able to part with. The other route would be to get a standard build replacement tank kit, and/or have Evan Johnson build you one.

http://www.evansaviationproducts.com/
Click to expand...

They built my fuel tanks after my first botched attempt.
He really has the system down. Nice clean application of proseal and no leaks.
 
DanLandry said:
They built my fuel tanks after my first botched attempt.
He really has the system down. Nice clean application of proseal and no leaks.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about the bird strike but it could have been far worse for sure, like through the prop or canopy.

Dan, about the Evan's tanks, how did you match drill the Z brackets to the spar shear web or was your wing still open?
 
Hey Brian,
I'm at Caldwell, too...I don't think I've ever seen your airplane. Where are you parked? If you don't mind, I'd like to come take a look one of these days. I'm close to the cafe.
 
Matching question

That's a good question about the matching. IIRC, don't I have to match drill the Z-brackets through the spar to ensure that the tank lines up correctly?

Sonny...sent you a PM.
 
This happened yesterday on my first ever Young Eagles flight. It was impossible to be angered when you have such smiling faces all around. Fortunately mines not as bad as the original post. Did you rebuild your tank? I should be able to reach in from the tip and bang mine out with some body and fender tools. There's a bit of a crease at each of the adjoining ribs. Those might take some filler. Of course Aviation Simple Green will get rid of the blood.

jp7xaq.jpg
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Tony,
I'm sorry to see that! Fortunately for you and your passenger, it could've been much, much worse. Overall, I'd say this looks like a "mild" bird-strike. Either way, the damage is done and you need to fix it.

The question I have is how big was the bird? I often see hawks flying around locally and I would think they would put a hole in the wing if someone hit them.
 
Sorry to see the damage! That must have been a big bird!

I had a bird strike in the -12, but it was on take off and the hit was right on a rib. Not even a dent. The bird left skin and feathers though.
 
It's hard to say what the size of the bird that hit the wing was. Seems every northern bird was on it's way to the south for the winter yesterday. I think I saw more birds heading south yesterday than any other day I can remember. All I saw was a black flutter, then a thump. Probably a small bird as I am pretty sure there'd have been lots more damage otherwise. I thought about landing in a river, maybe I could write and sell some books or make a movie.

I think I was indicating about 130 KTS at the time of impact. After I landed I asked my little Young Eagle if she had a good time. She was thrilled and was all smiles. Worth all the dented aluminum on my plane.
 
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I hit a seagull once in my parents' Cessna 150... A flock of them flew up in front of me as I was approaching the airport one day. It hit the wing on the pilot's side, glancing off the top surface, but I had no idea where it hit. I just heard a loud "BANG" that really sounded like it came from the tail... I guess the tail cone made the noise reverberate more than the impact on the wing.

I flew straight and level for a second while I looked at every surface I could see, but couldn't see anything. Controls check said everything worked fine, so I came in and landed. We hunted all over the airplane, mainly focussing on the fuselage and tail, before I found the dent while putting gas in. It looked like Tony's dent above, but with no blood smear.

A witness on the ground said he saw the bird fall after I hit it. I keep meaning to put a kill symbol on the side of the cockpit but I keep forgetting. :)
 
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