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RV7A Bird Strike

Never gave much thought to losing my glasses due to a departed canopy. With steam gauges, I can kind of squint and tell the difference between ~10-20 knots by the angle of the dial. With glass EFIS panels, it's just a little number among other little numbers. It seems like it's worth practicing such that you are able to navigate the EFIS interface without being able to see. Can you correctly operate all your panel switches, dial up 7700 and switch over to 121.5 while blindfolded? Food for thought.
 
WOW .!!!!!

Lucky to still have Greg with us.

A canopy break for any reason has had me thinking about how to prepare for that - helmet, safety glasses, what??
 
Good lessons discussed

Don, thanks for posting this and kudos to Greg for sharing his experience.
I especially liked Greg’s emphasis of never quitting in such situation, and always fighting to the end.

As a newly minted pilot, 35 years ago, I had an engine out on a Mooney and successfully landed in a field unscathed (plane and myself). Exactly what Greg said, applied in my situation.

Thanks again for the post!
 
"It all started when ..." translates in a past life to "No SH**T, there I was!"

Love the stories, and some great learning for all. Thanks Greg
 
Helmet........?

A canopy break for any reason has had me thinking about how to prepare for that - helmet, safety glasses, what??

Love my helmet! One of the reasons it made perfect sense to have one. That and if I am ever scooting down tera firma upside down, there is 1/4" of plastic between me and what might be going by....:eek::eek::eek:
 
Great story and some great lessons. Most important..."do not go gently into that good night...". Next most important..."carry an extra pair of glasses".
 
Great story and some great lessons. Most important..."do not go gently into that good night...". Next most important..."carry an extra pair of glasses".

Or alternatively, wait a couple of years and get lens replacement surgery to resolve a developing cataract problem. :) No more glasses for me (and no more glare from lights at night). I can see great - amazingly well, really. Two birds, one stone.
 
Harrowing

Thanks Greg for the great and scary story. Very cool flying under extreme duresss..
 
Or alternatively, wait a couple of years and get lens replacement surgery to resolve a developing cataract problem. :) No more glasses for me (and no more glare from lights at night). I can see great - amazingly well, really. Two birds, one stone.

Yep; I had CrystaLens implants in Nov of 2012 after almost 60 years of wearing glasses. One of the best thing I've ever done!
 
And then what???

So u get the plane landed, halfway cross the country. What is the fixit, recovery story ??? Repair in Colorado? Truck it back to Oregon??? Fly it back with goggles? Details please. Has to be a separate story.
 
Or alternatively, wait a couple of years and get lens replacement surgery to resolve a developing cataract problem. :) No more glasses for me (and no more glare from lights at night). I can see great - amazingly well, really. Two birds, one stone.

2 birds 1 stone, so your bird count is 3 now? 😁
 
Pay close attention to the last minute of that video. It IS the most important part.

Any idea what that last minute means? I don't have enough local knowledge to translate the words to actionable guidance.

Don't fly low? Don't fly near birds? Don't fly over lakes? Don't fly over that specific area?
 
Any idea what that last minute means? I don't have enough local knowledge to translate the words to actionable guidance.

Don't fly low? Don't fly near birds? Don't fly over lakes? Don't fly over that specific area?

It's not just a local thing. The local area and time characteristics increased the complexity and risk, but really it's more about making choices and thinking ahead to manage and limit risk.

  • Didn't have to fly direct, over the mountains. Could have flown closer to highways and other airports to the north, and not over such inhospitable terrain, which would have added less than an hour to the route.
  • Didn't have to be there when it was getting dark, which significantly complicated dealing with an emergency because visualizing anything outside the airplane quickly became difficult. An emergency at night is a lot more difficult to manage than the same thing during daylight, in general.
  • The location and timing made for a combination that resulted in severely limited options and higher risk if anything at all was to go wrong (which it did). If you make choices to limit your risks and maximize your options by "not going there" you increase your odds when something does go wrong.
 
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It's not just a local thing. The local area and time characteristics increased the complexity and risk, but really it's more about making choices and thinking ahead to manage and limit risk.

  • Didn't have to fly direct, over the mountains. Could have flown closer to highways and other airports to the north, and not over such inhospitable terrain, which would have added less than an hour to the route.
  • Didn't have to be there when it was getting dark, which significantly complicated dealing with an emergency because visualizing anything outside the airplane quickly became difficult. An emergency at night is a lot more difficult to manage than the same thing during daylight, in general.
  • The location and timing made for a combination that resulted in severely limited options and higher risk if anything at all was to go wrong (which it did). If you make choices to limit your risks and maximize your options by "not going there" you increase your odds when something does go wrong.
Thanks for the clarifications, Greg - I'm happy you are around to tell the tale. My airport is right smack in the middle of a beautiful nature area that birds seem to love, and along a canal that was recently restored to a wildlife and bird nesting area. I can't recall a takeoff or landing without seeing some of our flying friends in close proximity. Many are the black crows that seem to have enough intelligence to avoid aircraft, but some are much slower moving pelicans, herons, ducks, and geese. These are the ones I can easily identify - there are dozens more "birds" around that to my untrained eyes, look like "birds". Some unfortunately live in my hangar, and our hangar cat is too lazy and well-fed to scare them off.

I address a birdstrike on both my takeoff and landing briefings, as well as evasive action - I plan to pull if there is a threat of a strike. Your situation was different since you were moving pretty fast, and didn't have time to even see them much less take evasive action.

I'm very interested in any ideas about how to avoid a birdstrike, and of course how to survive one should it happen. Your story was very interesting and helpful!
 
I know it is impossible to cover everything, but how about an emergency screen (button in top right corner.. find it blindfolded) that can be pulled up that would have the NEEDED info in big bold print and remove any unneeded screen clutter. You don't need a full ribbon for airspeed and one for altitude. You don't need to view 400 sq miles of terrain and airspace. You just need what will get you on the ground now!

There was probably a "nearest" button but hard to find with limited vision.... Anyone that has ridden a motorcycle above 80 mph can tell you your vision is not at it's best, and to not have your prescription glasses just adds to it.

I think Dynon can have this done in less than an hour.
 
I don't fly at night anymore. Just think how less stressful it would have been for Greg if the emergency happened during the day.
 
Thanks Greg

Thanks Greg for telling your story from which we can all learn. Did you consider pushing the level button on the AP at anytime to assist in lowering your work load?
 
Thanks Greg for telling your story from which we can all learn. Did you consider pushing the level button on the AP at anytime to assist in lowering your work load?

Had I been able to read it or see the Level button, maybe. But no, I didn't consider it in the moment. Honestly there wasn't a lot of considering going on during the most critical phase of the incident. It was extremely loud, extremely cold, getting dark, very sudden and ridiculously disorienting. Brain was in simple mode and mostly trying to get a grasp on what was happening and that took a while. If you removed the ridiculous and sudden cold (wind chill is at a couple hundred miles per hour when it's about 14 degrees out was colder than anything I've felt before - and can be disabling when you're not ready for it) and the dusk/getting dark aspect of things (which, as I pointed out before, is avoidable) it would not have been nearly as disorienting. That's one of the points I wanted to make: We can choose to limit risk by avoiding places at times when the environment works against us. And, honestly, I see all of this a lot more clearly after experiencing the close call. I just hope that maybe one person learns from it and makes more-solid risk management decisions in their own future planning, based on my experience from that day. It's often hard to learn from someone else's experience. But it's worth a shot.

When I did think of the button, given the fact that the airplane was only partially stable in pitch I decided hand flying was the best option. I was unsure of how it would fly on AP with the broken airplane since I didn't really know the full extent of damage until after I landed.
 
There's a BIRD.....!!!!

I'm very interested in any ideas about how to avoid a birdstrike, and of course how to survive one should it happen. Your story was very interesting and helpful!

Hey, Mickey: We have a lot of birds around here as well, probably not as many as you have where you are. The pelicans can fly solo or in large formations. They are HUGE, WHITE with black wingtips and, usually, easy to see. I have seen them at 6K AGL (13K around here) :eek::eek::eek: But there are many others that like altitude as well. Hawks and Eagles like to fly at altitude, even without a nasal canula. :p

I have had some near-misses. In my experience, nearly all the birds I have encountered will tuck and dive to get away from that noisy bird coming at them. I have had a few in thermals that don't care if you are there or not but, if I am also riding the thermal (in the Cub), they stay their distance.

SO: pulling UP seems to be the solution...if you see them in time.

Canopy bird strikes are not extremely common. I think if there was not a bird strike in Greg's story, we would not have heard about it except what a beautiful flight it was to come over the Rocky Mountains down into Denver. Was that the safest route? Seemed like it at the time. How many times have I elected to go the shortest route rather than deviate where I can follow roads? More often than not. Evening/night over the mountains: nope; not me. Then I would have probably deviated to the North to follow I-80 as it is not that far away, especially flying an RV. Safety deviations around weather, rough terrain etc are much easier/quicker in the RV than the Cub as they go twice as fast.

How to survive a canopy bird strike? Did I mention how much I like my helmet...?:):)

So u get the plane landed, halfway cross the country. What is the fixit, recovery story ??? Repair in Colorado? Truck it back to Oregon??? Fly it back with goggles? Details please. Has to be a separate story.

Yeah: we need to know The Rest of the Story. I saw the sailplanes in the background of one of the pictures and knew immediately what airport rescued Gary's airplane. How did he get it home/repaired/flying?:confused::confused:
 
Wear a helmet

After watching the video of the bird strike, re-enforces my decision to start using a helmet, soon after transitioning to the RV3.
Being a small aircraft flying at higher speeds, I had a number of very close calls with birds, in particular Eagles and Cormorants.
I believe having the helmet with visor down gives a second line of defense if a bird comes through the canopy at 180 mph.
Also, after installing the Flyled wig-wags to the wing leading edge, the birds appear to see and avoid much sooner than they once did.
I am now a big fan of using a helmet and bonus being, taxing with the canopy fully open on a hot day is a breeze, with the helmet visor down.
 
Or alternatively, wait a couple of years and get lens replacement surgery to resolve a developing cataract problem. :) No more glasses for me (and no more glare from lights at night). I can see great - amazingly well, really. Two birds, one stone.

My wife had that done and is likewise a True Believer. I have cataracts too, but my OD doesn't think they're bad enough to get insurance to go along with the implants. Only a matter of time, though....
 
Could the canopy have cracked on its own and then broken apart due to air loads?

I think that is pretty unlike.
Anyone that has ever tried to purposely break a canopy would agree that for one to fragment into numerous pieces would require a major impact force.

The appearance of the broken canopy made it look like it was hit by a glancing impact that kept the bird on the outside but deflected the canopy enough to shatter out a major portion of it. It is likely that no DNA was found because it was all on pieces that left the airplane.
 
Scott,

So did a donor canopy fit well enough to get it home??

Yes it did, but in the interest of minimizing the amount of work time at a remote location, a temporary blem canopy was installed in a few hrs to get it home and then a full install of a new one was done afterwards.
 
So u get the plane landed, halfway cross the country. What is the fixit, recovery story ??? Repair in Colorado? Truck it back to Oregon??? Fly it back with goggles? Details please. Has to be a separate story.

Yes- rest of story please. Being you had 7700 in your box- did anyone meet you at the landing location? If so, how long did it take them to get there?
 
Yes it did, but in the interest of minimizing the amount of work time at a remote location, a temporary blem canopy was installed in a few hrs to get it home and then a full install of a new one was done afterwards.

Was the repair just the plexi? or plexi already mounted to frame? Do you have any pictures?
 
Canopy

I was instructing in the two seat Sukhoi with a very experienced pilot in the back. We had been airborne perhaps 20 minutes when the canopy departed. The inside handle struck the back seat pilot just below his eye. He lost his headset so I took control and landed. I am convinced that if he had been by himself he would not have survived. There was blood all the way back to the tail.
The MM II has a canopy that appears to be somewhat heavier than typical RV. MMII just after takeoff, canopy departed and took all or part of the tail with it. Two fatal, pilot was US World Aerobatic Team Member. I have not read the final report but there were pictures of the tail laying on top of a building some distance before the main wreckage.
I instructed at an airport with a landfill near the end of the runway. I would tell my students; if you think you are going to hit a bird with the windshield let go of the controls and duck your head as low as possible.
As for the EFIS only airplanes, I would not own an airplane without steam airspeed and altimeter, although I don't need either to land.
 
I had a very similar experience in an RV 6 some years ago. I didn’t have to deal with night though. Glad it worked out!
 
Or alternatively, wait a couple of years and get lens replacement surgery to resolve a developing cataract problem. :) No more glasses for me (and no more glare from lights at night). I can see great - amazingly well, really. Two birds, one stone.

Me too! I got lens implants about 7 years ago. No more glasses!

Oh, An extra set of glasses within reach, would be a great redundancy.

Edit: added extra glasses
 
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Oh, An extra set of glasses within reach, would be a great redundancy

Yes for sure. I had my extra set in my backpack. Was not readily available in the overwhelming situation. And, I determined for glasses the best thing would have been a sports strap to hold then on mynoggin probably. Or my helmet! Helmet would have prevented both the visual and comms problems for certain.
 
Yes for sure. I had my extra set in my backpack. Was not readily available in the overwhelming situation. And, I determined for glasses the best thing would have been a sports strap to hold then on mynoggin probably. Or my helmet! Helmet would have prevented both the visual and comms problems for certain.

BTW, Great job keeping cool throughout the whole incident.

I had a friend a few years ago that had just bought a RV4 & had only a few hours flying it. He hit a turkey vulture on the left wing leading edge creating a huge dent. He was able to fly it about 30 minutes to his home airport and had the tower check his gear to make sure it was intact. It was fine & he landed without incident.
After consulting with Vans & ensuring the spar wasn't damaged with any back sweep, we rebuilt the wing.
These are amazing airplanes!
 
Level button

Thanks for responding Greg. The startle factor is real, even for experienced pilots, reinforcing the need to continue practicing for emergencies. I’m glad it turned out okay for you.
 
Practice practice practice....

Thanks for responding Greg. The startle factor is real, even for experienced pilots, reinforcing the need to continue practicing for emergencies. I’m glad it turned out okay for you.

YES YES YES! I routinely go out and do nothing but practice emergency maneuvers. I do NOT need to be fishing around for my EMERGENCY CHECK LIST when something unexpected happens. I need to be checking the items off in my MIND. Muscle memory is an amazing thing, including the "mental muscle". And the one thing that gets one there is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Sometimes I forget something but that is what practice is all about. I have had several times to put that practice into use in the Cub and was reassured to find I was clipping through that memorized checklist in order of how I had practiced it. Granted, the Cub is not as complicated as SuzieQ but still worth going over more than during our flight review.....


WHAM...........what was THAT...........???:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Ready........... GO!:cool: 1) fly the airplane 2).......
 
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