is it me or does it seem like the engine circumference (for lack knowledge what u call it!) took a beasting but the fan blades seem in pretty good shape?
is this a safety design feature for exactly this sorta thing?
thanks
Matt
The fan blade design is sized for bird ingestion resistance and the resulting robustness easily accomodates up to 2 inch dia hailstones. This is less of a chalenge as the airspeed increases above takeoff (vector stuff).
Unfortunately increasing airspeed is worse for non-rotating structures like leading edges of wings and inlets. Typically major damage begins to show up at about 250 kts thus the need to slow down when entering a front if you want to avoid this kind of damage.