Bird strike on T/O.

stratobee

stratobee

Cleared for Takeoff
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
1,112
Display Name
Display name:
stratobee
Bird went through the left prop on takeoff. I saw it coming, but could not abort as I didn't have enough rwy left. Just had to see it happen in slomo, which was awful. It was a whole flock of them, so I couldn't avoid either. Minced one and there was gut all over the cowling. Thankfully it was pretty small, probably a pigeon. I didn't feel any vibrations or saw any damage, so decided to continue to my destination and deal with it there rather than do a precautionary landing.

Early mornings at my home airport before the tower opens, there's always this big formation of birds hanging out. Seen them many times. Normally they stay in the grass next to the rwy, but not this day. What can be done? How do you deal with it at your airport?
 
Not a lot. I discussed this with the General at Sheppard AFB as we played golf one day and I was seeing if there was a way I could get a contract to bale hay off the airport property. It wouldn't work out because they kept the grass mowed to a very specific height to prevent bird nesting which he claimed made some difference but did not come close to eliminating the problem. We also discussed the use of air cannons to scare them and the limited good as well as adverse effects of those, and having some well trained dogs that would run the fields but not the pavement. Nothing was fully effective and all had their negatives as well. It's just part of living in the world, we have to accept what nature deals us.
 
Last edited:
At KVLL they have a gun handy for just this purpose.




(No, they don't shoot the birds, just use the noise to roust them.)
 
azure said:
At KVLL they have a gun handy for just this purpose.




(No, they don't shoot the birds, just use the noise to roust them.)
Click to expand...

The reason the general didn't like them is that the birds typically circled the area and landed right back which caused more problems than it cured. Given, that is for a specific reason with typically nested birds. If the birds are transient it may be quite effective if it gets them to move along their route. It's actually a very complex problem with many variables. What works for someone's issue will not work for someone else and vice versa. We actually discussed the topic for most of the round, he was very well versed on it and in the end he said, "There just isn't a good answer to it, just the method that yields the best result at a given location which is never perfect."

For him the grass cutting was the best solution because it used the coyotes and the birds to keep each other off the property. The birds wouldn't nest there because there was no cover from the coyotes and the coyotes for the most part stayed away because the food was elsewhere. It did not, he lamented, do anything about the non nested birds, but they were a much smaller problem than the geese who were looking for nesting.
 
Last edited:
Thanks to a now closed landfill nearby, PTK used to be plagued with seagulls. Airport crew dropped a few with a 12 gauge, with DNR's blessing, and the dead ones discouraged the live ones from landing there.
 
stratobee said:
Bird went through the left prop on takeoff. I saw it coming, but could not abort as I didn't have enough rwy left. Just had to see it happen in slomo, which was awful. It was a whole flock of them, so I couldn't avoid either. Minced one and there was gut all over the cowling. Thankfully it was pretty small, probably a pigeon. I didn't feel any vibrations or saw any damage, so decided to continue to my destination and deal with it there rather than do a precautionary landing.

Early mornings at my home airport before the tower opens, there's always this big formation of birds hanging out. Seen them many times. Normally they stay in the grass next to the rwy, but not this day. What can be done? How do you deal with it at your airport?
Click to expand...

I've nailed a few, always landed as soon as practical to check the damage, I'd of circled around and landed if I were you.
 
I have hit several birds over the years. Anything smaller than a crow and I usually don't worry about it. I hit two geese while flying a C-207 in Alaska, one on each wing, outside the struts. Bubang, almost simultaneously. The river was still frozen but rotting out. I just continued back to base. Yes, the geese did put good size dents in the leading edges. The nearest airport was home base, still a little over 50 miles away. Plane flew fine. Feds almost had a seizure after looking at the plane. They were talking enforcement action for not landing ASAP. I borrowed a friends Super Cup on skis and took one of the feds to the area it happened. I showed him the rotting ice on the river and said I will land so he can inspect the ice. He suggested I not land there, then he begged me not to land, then threatened me not to land, then threatened certificate revocation if I landed. So then I asked him if he still thought I should have landed the sled (C-207) on the ice. He finally conceded that I made the right decision.

On the flight back home the heater failed.....Yep, that danged heater fails every time the switch is in the O. F. F. position. Gotta ask the mechanic about that.
 
A Killdeer(2.6-4.5 oz) went through the prop and glanced off of my windshield just after liftoff three weeks ago. I was doing 70 kias. I always climb at Vx if birds are nearby. I feel the lower impact speed and windshield-bird trajectory angle being less possibly will help prevent windshield penetration. I also try not to exceed 125 kts(Va) when below 2000 agl and never do high speed passes, although it looks like fun.
 
Travis AFB has a falconer that patrols the perimeter of the base with his bird. The prey birds have a long memory and his work is effective.
 
Early mornings, 1st flight of the day, or a quiet airport it can help to back-taxi the length of the runway.

Yes, by the time you takeoff some birds may be back, but a fair number will be scared off. It's at least better than taking off into handfuls of settled birds of various type.
 
Zeldman said:
I have hit several birds over the years. Anything smaller than a crow and I usually don't worry about it. I hit two geese while flying a C-207 in Alaska, one on each wing, outside the struts. Bubang, almost simultaneously. The river was still frozen but rotting out. I just continued back to base. Yes, the geese did put good size dents in the leading edges. The nearest airport was home base, still a little over 50 miles away. Plane flew fine. Feds almost had a seizure after looking at the plane. They were talking enforcement action for not landing ASAP. I borrowed a friends Super Cup on skis and took one of the feds to the area it happened. I showed him the rotting ice on the river and said I will land so he can inspect the ice. He suggested I not land there, then he begged me not to land, then threatened me not to land, then threatened certificate revocation if I landed. So then I asked him if he still thought I should have landed the sled (C-207) on the ice. He finally conceded that I made the right decision.

On the flight back home the heater failed.....Yep, that danged heater fails every time the switch is in the O. F. F. position. Gotta ask the mechanic about that.
Click to expand...

If you flew it 50 miles and landed uneventfully, why did you call the Feds?
 
I had a gull bounce off my Bellanca Viking at NTU. Good thing I had the wood wing - a quick call for a FOD check on the runway and then clean the blood off - not a scratch to the wing- if it was my metal wing Comanche the dent would have been substantial.
 
When I got my -35, my mechanic said the windshield was a no-go due to crazing. So I got a new one from the previous owner as part of the deal. Nice thick D'Shannon speed slope - a beauty to take pics through :)

Several times a year I see the flock of those crazy (Canadian) geese come out of nowhere - I figure it us just a matter of time before I hit one :(
 
Just got my ticket on Saturday and took the girlfriend up on Tuesday. We did a couple touch and gos at the end and about 20 feet AGL on the last go, I watched 3 dove fly across the runway. I knew there was a good chance I would hit at least 1 and couldn't do a thing about it. Watched almost in slow motion as one seemed to avoid the prop just to smack the wing inside the strut.

Told the tower and asked for a full stop to check for damage. The next landing, tower told me to offset a little to the right of centerline and taxi down the runway. He guided me to where he thought the bird was and asked me to tell me what kind it was. It was clearly a dove and didn't get torn up by the prop. Now I'm worried I'll get a call from the game warden asking why I took a dove 2 weeks before the season opens.

No damage to the plane and no one hurt. Didn't even find any blood on the wing. That's all you can ask for.
 
I wouldn't worry about dove season. I've seen several meat processors that advertise bringing in your deer in all three seasons--bow, gun and car. All you've done is add "plane season" to the listing for dove! :D

The important thing is to check the plane for damage. No harm, no foul, and you can eat the dove since it's there on the runway, not minced by the prop.
 
aggie06 said:
Now I'm worried I'll get a call from the game warden asking why I took a dove 2 weeks before the season opens.

No damage to the plane and no one hurt. Didn't even find any blood on the wing. That's all you can ask for.
Click to expand...

When he calls you, tell him you're awfully glad he called, you will need some contact info for your attorney, so they can send a bill for the aircraft damage caused by the kamikaze bird. It does, after all, belong to the state - otherwise they would not charge you a "replacement cost" for out-of-season taking of game. If it belongs to the state, the state is responsible for it's behavior. Now what was your name again? How do you spell that?
 
Never a bird, but I ran over a squirrel during pattern training once.

i saw the squirrel, felt a little thump, and asked Tower if I hit it. Yes…. with the left main gear (and a bit of snicker from the controller). In retrospect, I wonder if I needed to fill out one of those wildlife strike forms, though there was no damage to the airplane whatsoever. The squirrel might have had a different outcome.

I've also had FN Canada geese (good GAWD I hate those) park in the middle of the runway and just stare at me prior to takeoff. Not even a blast of full power (with the brakes on) scares those vermin away.
 
MAKG1 said:
I've also had FN Canada geese (good GAWD I hate those) park in the middle of the runway and just stare at me prior to takeoff. Not even a blast of full power (with the brakes on) scares those vermin away.
Click to expand...

Plus all the crapping they do, leaves the runway a little slick.

Tower, bracking action poor on the runway, due to goose poo....
 
Well, the birds were here first. We are the interlopers. Imagine the convo the birds are having about these 'new' weird flying things in the sky that are a hazard to them?
 
CTLSi said:
Well, the birds were here first. We are the interlopers. Imagine the convo the birds are having about these 'new' weird flying things in the sky that are a hazard to them?
Click to expand...

Canada geese are relatively new interlopers here.

Seagulls are native, but are only in huge numbers because there is a dump next to the airport.

The big pest birds were probably not here first.
 
MAKG1 said:
Canada geese are relatively new interlopers here.

Seagulls are native, but are only in huge numbers because there is a dump next to the airport.

The big pest birds were probably not here first.
Click to expand...

Aircraft are 150 million years old? That's how long they have been here...
 
MAKG1 said:
Just because Canada geese exist doesn't mean they exist everywhere.
Click to expand...

We can do this all day. Are Canadian geese the only birds that strike a plane?

There are over 10k species, and about 400 billion birds alive in the world at any given time. Pick a species, pick a location, pick bird. All of them trace back 150 million years.
 
CTLSi said:
We can do this all day. Are Canadian geese the only birds that strike a plane?

There are over 10k species, and about 400 billion birds alive in the world at any given time. Pick a species, pick a location, pick bird. All of them trace back 150 million years.
Click to expand...

What's your point?

If I strike a hummingbird, I don't give a ****.

No, not all birds go back 150 million years. The taxonomy goes that far back, but the bird species were not the same.
 
MAKG1 said:
What's your point?

If I strike a hummingbird, I don't give a ****.

No, not all birds go back 150 million years. The taxonomy goes that far back, but the bird species were not the same.
Click to expand...

Okay, 50 million years...homo sapiens are 100k years old.
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 365 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top