UA 1475
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 903
Likes: 24
From: CYUL
Up up and away said...
"I'm sure there would have been a similar-sized hole on the other side of the nose had it been Dolly"
Why? Dolly's massive booby absorbers would have cushioned the shock!
"I'm sure there would have been a similar-sized hole on the other side of the nose had it been Dolly"
Why? Dolly's massive booby absorbers would have cushioned the shock!
Last edited by Jet Jockey A4; 1st August 2012 at 11:23.
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,569
Likes: 1
From: Florida
The dent varries with both object size and speed .
i.e. for the same size bird the frontal area of the dent decreases with increasing speed while the depth of the dent increases with speed. Some similar complicating effects with engine fan blades. It's the combination of dent depth and area for a given speed that relates back to the bird size
For nose domes/cones the hole size is a little more complicated since it depends at what point in the impact and dent sequence the metal begins to tear. Of course if its a flexible non-metalic like fiberglas etc. there may be no visible hole, just a crack which opens during the denting and lets the whole bird inside before springing back closed again.
Simlar effects with ice/hail strikes on aircraft. knowing one or two parameters you can usually work out the others.
With a hard object like a bullet or missle fragment a similar relationship can be worked out at a macro level (TW800 example)
i.e. for the same size bird the frontal area of the dent decreases with increasing speed while the depth of the dent increases with speed. Some similar complicating effects with engine fan blades. It's the combination of dent depth and area for a given speed that relates back to the bird size
For nose domes/cones the hole size is a little more complicated since it depends at what point in the impact and dent sequence the metal begins to tear. Of course if its a flexible non-metalic like fiberglas etc. there may be no visible hole, just a crack which opens during the denting and lets the whole bird inside before springing back closed again.
Simlar effects with ice/hail strikes on aircraft. knowing one or two parameters you can usually work out the others.
With a hard object like a bullet or missle fragment a similar relationship can be worked out at a macro level (TW800 example)
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
From: Aggregating some marginal gains.
Saw the damage to the front end of an A4k after it collided with a duck at 250kts, the size of the entry 'hole' was rather similar, so perhaps a 1 - 1.5kg feathered missile? Gave the poor old pilot a bit of a start too.
