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Bird Strike


Andy

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Unfortunately, one of my renter pilots had a bird strike shortly after takeoff from Pearland Regional airport near Pearland, Texas. He had just leveled off at 1400 feet MSL (Pearland is at 44 ft MSL) when the bird struck the left side windshield frame and window, busting out an elliptical shaped hole in the windshield about 3 inches long and 1.25 inches at its widest point. He was unhurt, though bird parts were splattered both inside the cockpit and down the side of the aircraft. You can see pictures here: http://www.flylittleeagles.com/images/BirdStrike/content/index.html. (If this link doesn't come through, check Little Eagles Flight School Facebook page and you can find it there.)

 

Have notified the insurance company (Chartis via Falcon) and will be talking with their agent later this morning. Will keep the group apprised on what it takes to repair this; if anyone has had to replace a windshield and can throw a few words my way about it, I'd appreciate it.

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Unfortunately, one of my renter pilots had a bird strike shortly after takeoff from Pearland Regional airport near Pearland, Texas. He had just leveled off at 1400 feet MSL (Pearland is at 44 ft MSL) when the bird struck the left side windshield frame and window, busting out an elliptical shaped hole in the windshield about 3 inches long and 1.25 inches at its widest point. He was unhurt, though bird parts were splattered both inside the cockpit and down the side of the aircraft. You can see pictures here: http://www.flylittle...tent/index.html. (If this link doesn't come through, check Little Eagles Flight School Facebook page and you can find it there.)

 

Have notified the insurance company (Chartis via Falcon) and will be talking with their agent later this morning. Will keep the group apprised on what it takes to repair this; if anyone has had to replace a windshield and can throw a few words my way about it, I'd appreciate it.

 

Andy,

 

Sorry about the damage. Glad nobody got injured.

Can you tell us, at the time of the strike, did the pilot have his landing light turned on?

 

Thank you in advance,

Bill I.

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Bill,

 

I didn't ask that question, but we typically have not been running it at takeoff, and this occurred shortly after. The bird strike was apparently from the left front quarter, so I don't know whether or not it would have made any difference.

 

Have been corresponding with FD USA this morning. The estimate I'm getting on the windshield replacement is running $10K+.

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Roger,

 

I haven't seen the adjuster yet. Will share the note I got from FD USA with the insurance company. As I said above, the estimate I got was significantly higher..at the 10K plus range for all of it. Will be talking to the insurance company this morning.

 

My preference at this point is to have RJ Mechanical do the work, though I still need to talk to Rex to see if and when he can get to it and, again, what the insurance has to say.

 

Thanks for the condolences. Bird strikes are an occupational hazard whenever we fly; I've been lucky and not personally had one in a GA airplane but was in an F-14 when I did; the bird lost out on that one. At least this one took a chunk out of just the airplane and not the pilot or it could have been a lot worse.

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You're right about that. Talked to Dave Armando this morning and he said they were out of stock but would order one right away. Hope you're right about the cost, too. Dave was giving me the complete estimate with labor, painting, composite work included. I'll give Tom a call this morning.

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Unfortunately, one of my renter pilots had a bird strike shortly after takeoff from Pearland Regional airport near Pearland, Texas. He had just leveled off at 1400 feet MSL (Pearland is at 44 ft MSL) when the bird struck the left side windshield frame and window, busting out an elliptical shaped hole in the windshield about 3 inches long and 1.25 inches at its widest point. He was unhurt, though bird parts were splattered both inside the cockpit and down the side of the aircraft. You can see pictures here: http://www.flylittle...tent/index.html. (If this link doesn't come through, check Little Eagles Flight School Facebook page and you can find it there.)

 

Have notified the insurance company (Chartis via Falcon) and will be talking with their agent later this morning. Will keep the group apprised on what it takes to repair this; if anyone has had to replace a windshield and can throw a few words my way about it, I'd appreciate it.

 

Good thing it did not hit the prop imo. That could have resulted in many more problems...

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Got an official estimate from Airtime of right at $8K. If you figure we have to truck the airplane to Tulsa, the original $10K estimate from FD USA looks like it's not that far off.

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If all the damage you have is that little hole in the windshield corner use some Gorilla tape which is stronger than duct tape and fly it there. It won't hurt a thing and will be good to go all the way there. I had just got off the phone to Airtime when I posted and they told me $5k. Oh well, at least insurance will cover it.

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The canopy part was priced at $2400. Most of the other cost was labor...about $3900. The rest were incidentals. Not sure yet if it's safe to fly; if we have to truck it to Tulsa, that's another $2100.

 

Feel like a duck...

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The canopy part was priced at $2400. Most of the other cost was labor...about $3900. The rest were incidentals. Not sure yet if it's safe to fly; if we have to truck it to Tulsa, that's another $2100.

 

 

I can't argue with the parts cost, but $3900 for labor to replace the windshield? At $150/hr that is 26 hours. 4.25 DAYS of 8 hour shifts. To replace a windshield. I built the entire forward fuselage for my Sonex in less time than that, including fabricating parts. Unless there is a LOT more to it than it looks like, that just seems...wrong. But I guess since everybody else on here thinks that is reasonable, that might just be what these things cost. (shaking head). Thank God for insurance if that is a typical labor cost for replacing one part!

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There is some composite work and painting ,etc. involved in that number as well. I don't think it's a small job at all.

 

From a paper on bird strikes I found on the Boeing.com website:

 

"A number of widespread misconceptions about bird strikes may give pilots a false sense of security and prevent them from reacting appropriately to the threat of a bird strike or an actual event. These misconceptions include:

  • Birds don’t fly at night.
  • Birds don’t fly in poor visibility, such as in clouds, fog, rain, or snow.
  • Birds can detect airplane landing lights and weather radar and avoid the airplane.
  • Airplane colors and jet engine spinner markings help to repel birds.
  • Birds seek to avoid airplanes because of aerodynamic and engine noise.
  • Birds dive to avoid an approaching airplane.

In fact, none of these statements is scientifically proven."

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From talking with the insurance agent, this is not out of line with other LSA's. I suspect it will hold true of any composite airplane where the windshield is molded/bonded with the fuselage to reduce drag. It does seem, though, that there might have been a better way...

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I hit a bird a month ago flying at 1000 feet on a return trip from Calgary. It did quite a bit of

damage to my right wing. I covered the area with tape until I find someone who can repair it.

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