This is the place where the majority of the warbird (aircraft that have survived military service) discussions will take place. Specialized forums may be added in the new future
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Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:11 pm

Hi,
We have the same problem at our Controline model flying field. One of our members had a goose fly around the circle with his new stunt plane (multiple wittnesses including mysef). I would not have believe it if I didn't see it. The deer pay us no attention and wonder out into our curcles while we fly.

Our lakefront airport (Burke) had problems with animals on the runways too.
Kenn

Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:27 pm

Yep, have seen a deer hit a airplane. We had a 1900 hit a deer at a outstation while turning off the runway. Once the 3 blades left the prop, the engine proceded to twist its self out of the nacell..............it was down for a couple of months for that one.

Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:36 pm

Our friend hit two gulls with his Nanchang, the first time the darn bird punched a hole through the LE and the second time it kinked the top of the wing.

I hit a bird with the Focke-Wulf, the lucky thing skimmed the windshield ar just the right angle, it left saliva on the pane though!!

I was wearing my helmet at the time, good thing I was, it could have been much worse, I was just reducing RPM to CLIMB after take-off.

8)

Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:59 pm

no offense to the canadian wixers but i'd like to have a multi bird strike of canadian geese!!!!! they are mean as hell, noisy & annoying, & ruin grass with all there cockadoody & pecking. they dump about 20 lbs a day no sh**!! pardon the pun!! get rid of the canadian monicker & re-name them geese from hell!! :butthead:

Sat Apr 23, 2005 5:07 pm

My CFI once hit three such geese with a 150.

Total carnage! :shock:

Sun Apr 24, 2005 2:45 pm

srpatterson wrote:A bird strike is definately a bad thing in any airplane, but I feel a little better in the Sea Fury sitting behind 2" thick bulletproof glass.


A few years I got shown an RAF Jaguar that had taken a bird strike just in front of the windscreen. The windscreen had done its job and remained intact, but all that force had to go somewhere - so all the skin in front of and surrounding the windscreen just peeled open like a tin can. The bird, or what was left of it, went through the instrument panel, missed the pilot by inches, and exited the aircraft through the cockpit bulkhead and fuselage spine, pushing bits of metal through one of the intakes in the process. I did ask what kind of bird it was, but the only answer I got was "a dead one". :lol:

Sun Apr 24, 2005 9:39 pm

Flew through a flock of ducks in my Stearman that were scared up by another Stearman in front of me (Hmmmm... Too low over Lake Matthews?). Took some paint off of one prop blade, dented a gear fairing, feathers in the flying wires on BOTH wings, and blood sprayed on the left horizontal stabilizer like it was done with a spray gun. Scary deal, and quite a mess!

Sun Apr 24, 2005 11:52 pm

When I was in VX-5 back in '92 we had a Hornet hit a Coyote...the Roadrunner ate Wiley that time...after it splattered itself all over the NLG.

The tower watch used to go chase the wild Burros off the active all the time...then BLM started rounding them up and they're few and far between now. I would imagine hitting one of those would make a pretty big mess...

Had a few bird strikes to clean up after when I was at Whidbey too..ahh the life in Corrosion Control and Airframes...

Oh yeah...and the P-3 that flew through a flock of seagulls at Barbers..eee-yuck!

Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:21 am

Several years ago on a flight to Sebring, FL, the B-24 was hit by a hawk between the #3 & #4 engines and it impacted the leading edge of the wing. With talons out, the bird made a pretty good size hole in the metal and it took some sheet metal work and a few days to repair it. Image

Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:54 am

Not a Warbird, but we had a customer hit a buzzard with a Cessna Citation. It put a really big hole in the leading edge. We did a hangar restack & put the airplane in the back as it was to take a good while to repair. After a couple days the area around the Citation started to stink really bad (no repair work had started yet). Thats when we realized that no one had removed the dead bird from way back inside the wing! Boy what a mess. It took forever to get rid of that smell! :vom:
Regards
Robbie

Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:07 pm

i hit a mourning dove with my 2005 honda civic few days ago i 1st thought was of of this thread on impact!!! i looked in my rear view mirror & poof nothing but feathers..... what the hell it's a lease.... does that make me a kamikaze :lol: :?: :?: man they are dumb a** bird!!! the little dummy moved 2 seconds off the road to late. any body want to put a kill marking on my 5 speed ki 61 tony??? again.... what the hell it's a lease... right?? :finga: regards, tom

Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:18 pm

Hi Tom:

You get 5 points for the accidental kill, 10 points if you were driving a Buick with the gunsight in the hood. :lol:

Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:43 pm

Not even close to a warbird, but a friend of mine tooka a turkey through the drivers side windshield of his postal delivery van(the really DORKY looking ones). Fortunately for him, we drive on the Brit side of the van! :wink: AND I was hit by a deer as I was crusing down the road last fall on a foggy day. I don't think he saw me unti impact. I still have a big tuft of fur in my tail light cover! Shook my pickup all over the place! :shock:

Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:32 pm

Great posts Wixers! Believe it or not, I just pegged a Robin today. No damage to the Van(it was instant for the bird :( ) but I really wish they would gain a little more altitude when they fly across the road. Rob S

Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:54 pm

Hi All,

I must say that this is quite a topic. One that unfortunatly more familiar with than I'd like. I have had the dubious honor of rebuilding more leading edges of aircraft than I want to ever remember due to duck, goose, sparrow (you have no idea how much damage a sparrow can do), or any other one of our feathered friends, and most of those were on jetliners.

As far as Warbrids and bird strikes go, I got tapped to rebuild the leading edge of a wing on an FM-2 Wildcat that took down a goose in aerial combat. Okay...not combat but but what a mess that thing made. Surprisingly, the front spar is extremely durable and didn't take much damage. However about 6 feet of wing leading edge wasn't quite so lucky. Took about three weeks to do it.

I like birds...all kinds, but MAN...they don't work out so well around planes.
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