Tastes like chicken!
Late 80's polling Aloutte2's around Cyprus (doors off). Had front and rear seat pax in support of a Brigade exercise on the Akamus ranges (western most end of the Island). This is a long thin peninsula type landscape where the troops can only exercise along a steep ridge running north / south.
During this particular exercise (late September), the local "hunters" were out in their hoards and literally shooting at anything that moved - sparrows, finches, small unsuspecting creatures. They would then parade their catch on the bonnets / radio aerials of their cars. I believe it's a Mediterranean macho thing!
But I digress, back to the office. Scene then is self with two pax legging it tactically over the ridge west to east before nipping up the Turkish side to support the "enemy" company on the northern peninsula. Slow left hand turn over some rocks, lowered the lever and nosed down towards the sea when rear-talking ballast exclaimed, "I've been hit". Looked left and rear wards to see a small group of "hunters" hiding in some rocks just as the whole portside of the cockpit filled with buckshot.
There was buckshot everywhere - it had come in hitting everything, consul, and instruments, inside Perspex and ended up on the floor. My saving grace was my clear visor but my pax got most of what came in through the open space left by the missing door. There was nowhere to land either, I could see the black mass of buckshot on the cabin floor and expected the bits to end up in and under the floor. I had visions of control seizure at any moment, the Col. in the front had his face in his hands and the Adj in the back was beginning to moan a little louder. But there was still no where to put her down, there were only rocks, trees and cliffs. I had no option but to fly back over the ridge, back to the exercise LS and just pray the cyclic seals held.
It was the longest 2 1/2 minutes of my life (so far) but land we did and safely back at the LS.
What happened after is another story altogether.