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Old 25th May 2010, 17:10
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Canuckbirdstrike
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Canada
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What appears to be a simple question is unfortunately not.

The challenge is that various species of birds have different abilities to detect danger and more importantly have a different perceptions of where they fit in the food chain with respect to hierarchy vs. an aircraft.

Work has been done with using pulse/strobe lights, but the results were poor and inconclusive. The issue of radar generates some limited data that is poor quality "eye witness" observations that birds may react to radar. The problem with this is that there is no ability to determine what caused the birds to behave differently. Further, from a knowledge of weather radar frequencies and bird biology it is not possible for birds to detect aircraft radar.

On the issue of using different sonic warning devices on an aircraft there is a problem with the distortion of the sound propagation patterns caused by the aircraft moving. Again, like the use of "deer whistles" on cars there is no scientific study of what works, only poor anecdotal reports.

One of the byproducts of newer, quieter engine technology is the reduction of one of the means that birds detect aircraft is reduced.

It is important to recognize how to manage bird strike risk effectively. The most critical phase of flight to manage is takeoff. Therefore effective airport wildlife management control is critical and this is where we need to concentrate our efforts.

At higher altitudes, like US Air 1549, detection and avoidance are valuable, but simple flight profile management helps. Climb through the high risk areas as fast as possible and keep the speed back to reduce impact force i.e. use a VNAP A climb profile, to use the older more recognized terminology.

There are no silver bullets. Integrated strategies are what succeed.
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