Birdstrikes
 

Does anyone know, if turning on the weather radar for take off, help to avoid a birdstrike?

haha is this a joke?

Nope, it is not. It is a question for experienced pilots flying airline jets. My company has changed the SOPs in order to include turning on the radar just before take off. There has been numerous birdstrikes, and it seems that the weather radar provides, though little, some help. Any comments?...

No supporting data, including instrumenting the little buggers and measuring their response.

Might as well paint keep away signs on the radome and engine inlets.

Having it on didn't help me the other day when I smoked three on landing! :8

Our procedures have us turning it on just after initiating the taxi. It is used as a tool to help gauge wx around the airport rather than scaring the birds away. A shotgun works better for that job I think.

Is this idea based on the hope of cooking them and causing them to 'fall out of the sky' (and out of the way) before they can get ingested ?

I've heard of military radars being capable of 'shooting down' birds in flight.

Radar
 

Microwave and Radar emissions do disturb birds, and I vaguely remember some university doing tests about this at my local airport, but the transmission power from aircraft weather radars is just too small to have any effect at all, especially if youre heading towards that buzzard with 180kt.


OORW

Maybe you'll get a return just before hitting, if its a bloody big bird :E

The old urban legend surfaces again....

Aircraft weather radar has absolutely no effect on birds. While bird senses are much better than humans, there is just not enough power in the aircraft units for them to sense the waves. Lots of research has been done on this and unless you are talking an AWACS or other very powerful military radars there is no chance this will work. The urban legend flows from some early very powerful military radar systems.

For further information on this issue and strategies to reduce bird strikes go to the Transport Canada website and look for the link to the on-line copy of the book "Sharing the Skies". Yes, I am one of the authors and no I don't get a commission on the sales!

I have worked in this area for years and can assure you that there is no scientific evidence that this works.

timbash
 

I concur, turning on the radar will have no discernable effect on birds.

But, switching on all available onboard bright lights will be more efficient,..

birds are quite sensitive to light sources...specially when those sources are not located as they would be in their mind (like the sun)..

Still not the ultimate way to avoid birdstrike, but...in waiting for it..

IMO, absolutely correct, also our lights are always on for take off, no help there either.

I flew the 146 for some 5 years. So many bird strikes that the Ops people caled me a chick magnet, and they weren't being complementary. :sad:

In the 2 and a bit years I've flown the 717, I've only experienced one bird strike. The ports, routes, and times are constant between the two types.

I'd be interested in any theory as to why the 717 has been significantly less prone to bird strike.

You killed them all with your 146!!!!!!:eek::)

Difference 146 vs 717
 

I would say that the engine position makes the difference.

Amazing how some pilots just love to bore down at high speed (320 knots plus) below 10,000 and even below 5000 ft risking lives in an area where birds fly and the damage to the windows (and crew) could be fatal. Good fun and macho and all that stuff but potentially deadly. Maybe they rely on their radar to frighten birds out of the way...read earlier posts re radar myths.

Again no proof, but in a period of 2 months I hit everything in the air that had feathers (they didn't call me the chick magnet, but they should've). I don't know if this is common in the CRJ, but they mostly hit close to the cockpit so it was easy to keep track of one's kills. This also coincided with the end of the rainy season in Mexico, and I was switching my radar off and switching to terrain on approach and initial climb (no clouds, many mountains). The cheif pilot finally wrote me an email asking me if I was using radar on approach and landing. In each strike my radar was off. It has been on ever since and I haven't killed anything (at least to my knowledge). The birds are happier, maintenance is happier, and I haven't had to write a report in close to a year. Radar on seems to work for me.

rcl

Thanks guys, for all the posts.

How would anyone know :confused:

Bat strikes
 

I too had never heard of a bat strike, then I saw this in the newspaper yesterday...