rvmills
Well Known Member
During the Sport Bronze Final on Sunday of the 2018 Reno Air Races, Sport 49, the RV-Super Six I own with James Stringer, and piloted by James that day, had a close encounter with a large hawk while rounding Sport Pylon 4. James saw the hawk above and to the right, and tried to climb as the hawk tucked and dove, but the hawk went through the right windscreen, and pretty much exploded on the baggage bulkhead. James called the mayday, and expertly maneuvered the plane to a safe landing on the off-duty runway (RWY 14, for those that follow Reno or know Stead). I was above and behind in the pace aircraft (Mark Frederick's F1 Rocket), watching the battle between James and Jason Rovey, when the birdstrike happened. James may post about his experience here, but he reported tremendous noise and wind blast, and although his mayday calls were loud and clear, he could hear nothing on the radio. He flew very professionally, and was awarded the 2018 Sport Class Tommy Rose award for airmanship for his performance. Well done, partner!
I'll post a few pics of the damage, then post some photos of the repair, which I began this weekend. If anyone has replaced a front windscreen, any lessons learned, advice and gotchas are absolutely welcome. I'm searching the VAF archives for info as well. If this can become a chronicle that can help a future windscreen replacer, then all the better!
Here's what a hawk strike looks like up close...not pretty!
Note the damage to the fuselage skin above the baggage bulkhead in the next two photos...there was a lot of force imparted into the baggage wall!
In addition to the windscreen, the F-606R bulkhead and the the F674 top skin will need to be replaced. More on that in the next post in the thread...
Cheers,
Bob
I'll post a few pics of the damage, then post some photos of the repair, which I began this weekend. If anyone has replaced a front windscreen, any lessons learned, advice and gotchas are absolutely welcome. I'm searching the VAF archives for info as well. If this can become a chronicle that can help a future windscreen replacer, then all the better!
Here's what a hawk strike looks like up close...not pretty!
Note the damage to the fuselage skin above the baggage bulkhead in the next two photos...there was a lot of force imparted into the baggage wall!
In addition to the windscreen, the F-606R bulkhead and the the F674 top skin will need to be replaced. More on that in the next post in the thread...
Cheers,
Bob