Bird Strike

Aztec Driver

Aztec Driver

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Mar 7, 2005
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Elizabethtown, PA
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Bryon
Is there any regulation to report a minor bird strike? I am looking, and can't find any. I have found the form to submit, but don't know if it is manditory, or if there is some kind of inquiry into the matter if one does.
 
Aztec Driver said:
Is there any regulation to report a minor bird strike? I am looking, and can't find any. I have found the form to submit, but don't know if it is manditory, or if there is some kind of inquiry into the matter if one does.
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Nevermind, found it. Not manditory, just "encouraged".

Had a Goose decide to commit suicide with the Tiger. Fortunately, the Tiger came out unscathed, with the exception of all the blood covering the windscreen and all over the tail. Hit the inner hub of the prop, which made it a lot smaller so when it hit the windscreen it was already somewhat softer. That, combined with the shape of the Tiger windscreen and the fact that I was going slower as I had just reached cruise altitude enabled it to bounce off without coming in to say "Hi". Still gets your attention, though.
 
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How's the prop ?
Your case is close to one where the pilot was flying along one minute and the next second he was struggling to recover from borderline unconsciousness and trying to get all the blood out of his eyes in blasting head-on air from what he later learned was the turkey buzzard that just came through the now instantly non-existent windshield !
 
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Holy Cow Bryon! That must have scared the crap out of you more than a gallon of Metamucil. I can't believe it didn't crack your windscreen. I'm happy it was pureed first. What altitude were you at and was the goose a single or in a flock? You may also want to clean out the cooling vanes in the cowl
 
AdamZ said:
You may also want to clean out the cooling vanes in the cowl
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I don't know about that. Bryon might enjoy flying with that BBQ smell. Vx climb to 8,000...ding!...bird is ready.
 
AdamZ said:
Holy Cow Bryon! That must have scared the crap out of you more than a gallon of Metamucil. I can't believe it didn't crack your windscreen. I'm happy it was pureed first. What altitude were you at and was the goose a single or in a flock? You may also want to clean out the cooling vanes in the cowl
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Didn't enter the cooling vanes at all. Cleaned that area. Just the prop and windscreen. No discernable damage at all. A small paint scratch on the inner hub area of the prop. (and, of course, lots of blood everywhere.) A single solitary snow goose. Big and white, but now red all over.:D Spatters of blood on the empennage. Had a real good time cleaning in the cold weather. Would that be considered a prop strike enough to have looked at? No detectable nicks or damage, with the exception of the paint being scratched.
 
Did the engine surge or any unusual sounds? Might be worth it to track the prop; those things can weight what, 15-20lbs?
 
Bryon. Glad you and the Tiger are OK. This is one of my pet fears. The Tiger's windscreen is so sloped, I'm hoping that helps deflect the bird as you experienced.

P.S. Don't tell PETA :) They'll want to ban us.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Did the engine surge or any unusual sounds? Might be worth it to track the prop; those things can weight what, 15-20lbs?
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No unusual noises, no surges, no misses at all. I may have the prop looked at though.

My wife and my instructor both think that there are way too many things happening to me when I fly. They think that maybe these are "subtle" hints that maybe I shouldn't be flying. Although, if I had to choose which problem I experienced, it would be the bird strike, hands down.
 
Aztec Driver said:
My wife and my instructor both think that there are way too many things happening to me when I fly. They think that maybe these are "subtle" hints that maybe I shouldn't be flying. Although, if I had to choose which problem I experienced, it would be the bird strike, hands down.
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Nah, just keep it to the survivable stuff. You may want to hedge your bets, though, and carry a St. Christopher medal. :)
 
Anthony said:
Nah, just keep it to the survivable stuff. You may want to hedge your bets, though, and carry a St. Christopher medal. :)
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Would it still work if the Vatican powers have 'de-sainted' him ?
Important to know for sure.
 
Anthony said:
Nah, just keep it to the survivable stuff. You may want to hedge your bets, though, and carry a St. Christopher medal. :)
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Medal, hell - I think he needs St. Christopher, himself! :D

Ah, but better Chris than Pete, right? Right!
 
Bryon, unless you are an A&P you are a layman. That means your decision to not have the prop checked is being determined by uneducated eyes. At least let your A&P make the decision. What we don't know can kill us.

Put another way, if the decision to not have the prop looked at is soley determined by you and in absence of proper inspection you are yet again reaching into your bag o luck. Your wife and instructor already think you've made too many withdrawls.

Also, think about the resale. You disclose a bird strike but can't find the IA log entry because there was no entry. Buyer walks.
 
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Spooky stuff isn't it ? I've only seen A&Ps do visual checks of props and file till smooth any nicks deeper than about 3/8 inch, which have then been pronounced airworthy. That has been OK so far for about 1100 hours on one such nicked SkyHawk prop but I sure don't like looking at and flying behind that smoothed down nick all that much.

Don't they sometimes x-ray or phosphorescing dye-check fixed wing props like is done for chopper blades ? Maybe too picky I guess.

BTW:
Richard, I have an "a" you can use, unless you are originally from, or are addressing the deep south readers !
 
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Dave Krall CFII said:
Spooky stuff isn't it ? I've only seen A&Ps do visual checks of props and file till smooth any nicks deeper than about 3/8 inch, which have then been pronounced airworthy. That has been OK so far for about 1100 hours on one such nicked SkyHawk prop but I sure don't like looking at and flying behind that smoothed down nick all that much.

Don't they sometimes x-ray or phosphorescing dye-check fixed wing props like is done for chopper blades ? Maybe too picky I guess.

BTW:
Richard, I have an "a" you can use, unless you are originally from, or are addressing the deep south readers !
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Take the spooky out if it by doing the correct thing. Always, never failing. I too have flown behind severly dressed props but having some knowledge of how metal fatigues, how to correct, and some faith in the A&P goes a long way. As PIC it is your responsibility to ascertain the proper mx was done. Either that or carry a booklet of post-it placards.

What 'a'?

FYI: there is not a space 'tween the end of a sentence and punctuation. (en guarde)
 
Richard said:
Take the spooky out if it by doing the correct thing. Always, never failing. I too have flown behind severly dressed props but having some knowledge of how metal fatigues, how to correct, and some faith in the A&P goes a long way. As PIC it is your responsibility to ascertain the proper mx was done. Either that or carry a booklet of post-it placards.

What 'a'?

FYI: there is not a space 'tween the end of a sentence and punctuation. (en guarde)
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Thought you might like it for 'withdrawl' or if not there, then maybe it'd fit somewhere in those gnarly METARs you've recently posted !

touche...!
I know about that punctuation space and will to quit. I always thought it looked better for question marks and exclamation points but not for periods -that would be wrong.
 
Dave Krall CFII said:
Thought you might like it for 'withdrawl' or if not there, then maybe it'd fit somewhere in those gnarly METARs you've recently posted !

touche...!
I know about that punctuation space and will to quit. I always thought it looked better for question marks and exclamation points but not for periods -that would be wrong.
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Oh.......I see. In that case the 'l' should go, right ?
 
Aztec Driver said:
Thread Hijackers!!!:D
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Oh yes and I meant to add, there's a significant bird strike scene in the movie with Anthony Hopkins and Alex Baldwin "The Edge" involving a Beaver on floats, as I recall.
 
Dave Krall CFII said:
...I know about that punctuation space and will to quit...
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And wouldn't that be "will try to quit" or something? :D :D

don't mind me - just jumpin' on the merry go 'round, seeing's how it was already spinnin'!

;)
 
Anthony said:
Nah, just keep it to the survivable stuff. You may want to hedge your bets, though, and carry a St. Christopher medal. :)
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You know your marked if the bird comes through the windscreen and knocks the St. Christopher medal off the glareshield.
 
flyifrvfr said:
You know your marked if the bird comes through the windscreen and knocks the St. Christopher medal off the glareshield.
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That reminds me of my uncle who had either a plastic Jesus or plastic St. Christopher statue on the dashboard of his 1967 Chevy Impala. He used to leave his dog in the car a lot and the dog chewed the head off the plastic Jesus. Guess what? He left it on the dash and kept driving around with the decapitated religious figure. I don't think that was helping any. :)

Now Bryon, if you have to resort to St. Jude, then I might consider hanging it up. :)
 
Aztec Driver said:
Is there any regulation to report a minor bird strike? I am looking, and can't find any. I have found the form to submit, but don't know if it is manditory, or if there is some kind of inquiry into the matter if one does.
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I don't know, but I almost needed to find out yesterday! Something that looked like a big pigeon (um, might have actually BEEN a big pigeon!) came across the windshield about 20 feet away, just as I joined downwind! Yikes! But better right to left than head-on, I reckon.
 
I was with a student at DMW doing landing work climbing out on the upwind. We noticed a bird in front of us at our same altitude. My student was about to turn right crosswind and I told him to continue straight ahead which was a good thing because the bird tucked his wings and dove to the right. Had we had turned to the crosswind at that moment, the bird would have struck the airplane near the winshield in a dive.
 
etsisk said:
And wouldn't that be "will try to quit" or something? :D :D

don't mind me - just jumpin' on the merry go 'round, seeing's how it was already spinnin'!

;)
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I know what you mean and was even going to edit but then thought, it means "I am willing to do something" (to quit) and decided it was gramatically correct, at least to this writer struggling with English as a first language, so I left it unchanged.

And of course it brought to mind more BIRD STRIKE memories, so it's doubly good:
The Mooney was at BFI during the dark night and rather unglamorously TAXIED right into a small gaggle of naturally night stealthy Canadian geese traversing the tarmac on foot to a new grassy spot for feeding. Not pretty! They have become quite accustomed to aircraft and often move very little, or slowly, or not at all when being approached so I always tell ground or tower when we see them, which is not uncommon, especially at night for some reason, maybe to avoid the hawks during the day?
 
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