Fast jet-bird strike
 

I seem to recall there was a bird strike on a Hawk at Brawdy (I think) where the bird went through the forward part of the canopy , struck the pilot's helmet then took out the box on top of the seat which deployed the drogue chute . The front seater was incapacitated & couldn't eject or see to land the aircraft , however the back seater was un-injured & was able to safely land the aircraft .

Bird strike
 

That may have been me (from Chivenor). A mallard duck came through the windscreen (not the cannopy) and totally blinded me. It also surged the engine, but I later relit it. I landed blind at Wittering. The nav in the back could not fly the Hawk, but made the RT calls as I could not (my face was rather rearranged). Subsequently, the front windscreens of Hawks were redesigned

Cheers "Sharpend" , I reckon it must have been your "incident" I was thinking about , the old one remaining braincell isn't quite up to this memory lark nowadays !:confused::confused::ok:

Amazing story!

Did you make a partial/full physical recovery after the incident?

Hi Sharpend!! Just worrked out who you might be!! Cheers Newt:ok:

'Sharpened' - That would have been around the mid 80s, I was there when they fitted the thicker windscreen, we were forever taking birdstrikes at Chivenor. I also remember Rory Underwood was one of the studes on 151sqn...just as well his rugby was better than his flying. :)

Sharpend, did you have your clear visor down at the time?

Bird strike
 

Sadly I never made a full recovery. I never flew fast jets again as I am still blind in one eye. That said, I did have a full career in big jets and still fly my own Cirrus.

Visor
 

Yup, clear visor was down. It shattered into lots of pieces, but I was flying at 450 kts so the energy was equivalent to a sledghammer at 150 kts. Difficult to stop!

Me
 

Yes Newt, I am me!

151 Sqn
 

Yup, I was 'Boss' of 151 (f) Sqn at the time. So they have me to thank for the better windscreen. Bit late for me, like closing the stable door. Pity I got no compensation for a ruined career, just a visit to Buck House & a gong.

Excuse me, I have had this argument before with your previous colleagues Sharpend. The VC10 is a fast jet. As you know we have had to slow down on military routes due to a slow 'fast jet' ahead. ;)

Canopy impact strength?

A little off topic and not a Hawk, but some very graphic recent canopy tests for the F1 racing cars of the future. I post this link to show some of the work still going on for safety in all areas of high speed endeavour.


This looks like full canopy would survive a bird strike at circuit speed.

I hope the RAFAT FDR gives some info, I understand the Reds have a limited FDR fit.


Take care.


Charlie

Surviving a birdstrike.
 

Sharpend, not just any old Gong. Well done you. Did the clear visor get any upgrade from the lessons learned during the investigation into this incident?

How do the current batch of visors compare with what you had that day?

I'm sure it is impossible to produce a visor that can withstand anything. I did hear at the time of my accident that an F16 pilot actually lost his head hitting a bird. He had his visor down. 2 kgs of Mallard at 500 mph is a lot of energy.

As for today, I have no idea what protects our gallant pilots. For me, I have a carbon fibre propellor and never exceed 180 kts!

From a design perspective birdstrike protection is basically all about statistics; what birds do you expect to encounter with a given usage of the aircraft, at what speeds? It's always possible to increase the degree of protection, but there are penalties in terms of weight and escape system performance.

Sharpend... you had a full career flying big jets albeit being blind in one eye... how did you manage that..? I'm a little confused..

Wasn't there a one eyed Canadian F-86 driver of a few years ago?

Edit: I've just found him. Syd Burrows.

I remember a hawk landing at Leeming in the early eighties having hit a bird. It penetrated the fuselage just below the windscreen and hit the pilot in the face.

Destroyed both visors and his oxy mask. I can't remember what his injuries were but he was covered in blood, possible bird remains. I remember at the time I was stunned that the pilot was capable of flying the aircraft back as he could hardly stand and had to be helped from the aircraft. Clearly he was running on adrenaline.

One-eyed pilots in the RAF
 

There have been several cases of pilots who had lost the sight of one eye continuing to fly albeit as part of the crew of a multi-piloted ac, both as captains as well as co-pilots.

One was Bill A*****r a Herc captain of note who came very close to having to ditch in the south atlantic off Ascension. Bill ISTR lost his eye due to a birdstrike whilst flying a Hunter but I stand to be corrected, it was a long time ago....

MB