Hit a bird - how bad does this look?

I had the same in the Dominican Republic. It was on the takeoff roll at about 120 kts. After we got back to the parking apron, the relief pilot that had gone to the last row came running up and said dang, fire went past the tail. I said it went 30 ft in front of cockpit too.

When talking back to ops in the states, I told them we had hit Guinea hens, then some how it turned in to Guinea pigs, then full sized hogs. The birds and us would have been ok if they had kept walking but when they got up to about 3 feet, the vacumn got them.. come to find out the Guinea's are like ducks and swallow rocks to help their gizzards crush the seeds and other things they eat. Engines could take the meat and bones, but not the rocks.

They are not flightless, they just don't get very high or go very far.
 
The thicker windshield is 0.250" versus stock of 0.187". Do you really think that will stop a bird at over 100 knots?

To be bird proof, you also need to change the material to polycarbonate. The same stuff as "bullet proof glass."

FYI, this is what the USAF/Cessna had to do for the T-37:
Following a series of accidents caused by bird strikes between 1965 and 1970, all T-37s were later retrofitted with a new windshield made of Lexan polycarbonate plastic 0.5 in (12.7 mm) thick; this had sufficient strength to reliably withstand the impact of a 4 lb (1.8 kg) bird at a relative speed of 288 mph (463 km/h).
 
Pinecone said:
The thicker windshield is 0.250" versus stock of 0.187". Do you really think that will stop a bird at over 100 knots?

To be bird proof, you also need to change the material to polycarbonate. The same stuff as "bullet proof glass."

FYI, this is what the USAF/Cessna had to do for the T-37:
Following a series of accidents caused by bird strikes between 1965 and 1970, all T-37s were later retrofitted with a new windshield made of Lexan polycarbonate plastic 0.5 in (12.7 mm) thick; this had sufficient strength to reliably withstand the impact of a 4 lb (1.8 kg) bird at a relative speed of 288 mph (463 km/h).
Click to expand...

Hmm, I assume polycarbonate may not be "approved" to install on a Comanche and even if, it would probably be too heavy, losing a lot of useful load? Or can you actually install that material? I mean, if I lose 10 lbs in useful load, I wouldn't care. If I lose 100 lbs, I would care. I didn't realize the difference between the stock and the thick glass is that little... I don't think it would make a lot of difference. Maybe slowing down the bird slightly at best so if it was to smack me in the face, it may hurt just slightly less?
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
Hmm, I assume polycarbonate may not be "approved" to install on a Comanche and even if, it would probably be too heavy, losing a lot of useful load? Or can you actually install that material? I mean, if I lose 10 lbs in useful load, I wouldn't care. If I lose 100 lbs, I would care. I didn't realize the difference between the stock and the thick glass is that little... I don't think it would make a lot of difference. Maybe slowing down the bird slightly at best so if it was to smack me in the face, it may hurt just slightly less?
Click to expand...
polycarb and acrylic are almost the same weight. 1.19 gm/cm3 for acrylic vs 1.22 gm/cm3 for poly. the problem with lexan (polycarb) is that it does not have as good of optics as acrylic and it softer and more scratch prone.
 
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Transparent aluminum!


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Chrisgoesflying said:
I’m having a mechanic take a look at it. I get the whole “happened on the way home” comments but with my wife and puppy on board, I’d rather play it extra safe as i always do.
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I can certainly understand your reluctance to take an unnecessary risk in that situation, but I’d bet you could have arranged a Pilots-N-Paws flight for the puppy so you and your wife could fly the plane home.
 
The saga has come to an end. The mechanic on location was able to work out the dent on the wing. Today I drove back with my mechanic who changed the air filter, looked everything over and we flew the plane home uneventfully. He said this could have been a lot worse but the dent popped right out and the bird that hit the air filter hit in a way that it left no damage in the housing while also not restricting airflow to the engine during the bird strike flight.
 
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