The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I have often wondered how that pelican missed the prop but the number of bugs and grasshoppers that smash into the windscreen also miss the prop. It happen all so quickly , a big white mass in front and then BANG. I glanced up and saw the windscreen flex in . Then it was over . I have often wondered if you hit a big bird with a prop is it a prop strike . Of course I would be doing a inspection of the prop and fuselage structure for damage and dimensions . But Does it require a engine tear down?
If the prop was damaged ,yes a engine tear down but just a spray paint of blood and guts . ??

Another case of poor preflight inspection..... That Pelican had held onto the prop for as long as he COULD for Krike’s Sake!

I once hit a bat during descent in a Baron at night that, when it hit, sounded like a shotgun had discharged! (In fact, I was returning from a quail hunt with a friend and my first-thought was he’d not unloaded his shotgun and it had gone off in-flight! ... but we were on descent to the airport and it was a bat, which we found still-plastered to the windscreen. We were doing about 160 and it was a one-piece windshield. No damage.

Ghostflyer, if the propeller doesn’t have to be removed for repair then it’s not considered a prop strike by Continental.

gahorn wrote:Ghost flyer, if the propeller doesn’t have to be removed for repair then it’s not considered a prop strike by Continental.

SB96-11 has two parts to the definition of a prop strike. I would think a pelican might have enough mass to cause a loss of rpm if hit dead center. Is that true Ghostflyer? This service bulletin has been revised (it’s now SB96-11B) but the applicable part copied below has not changed. Moderators note: this post was moved from another thread because it was clearly placed there in error. gahorn

cessna170bdriver wrote:

ghostflyer wrote:...I have hit 2 pelicans and a ibus . One hit the windscreen missed the prop ??? How?? ...

Pardon the off topic, but “how” is that a 170 with a two-blade propeller flying at 120mph at 2450rpm advances nearly 27 inches between blade passes. I’ve seen a balloon pass through my propeller disk unscathed. It’s just a matter of timing.

So much for my theory of an avian Fosbury flop.

n2582d wrote:

gahorn wrote:Ghost flyer, if the propeller doesn’t have to be removed for repair then it’s not considered a prop strike by Continental.

SB96-11 has two parts to the definition of a prop strike. I would think a pelican might have enough mass to cause a loss of rpm if hit dead center. Is that true Ghostflyer? This service bulletin has been revised (it’s now SB96-11B) but the applicable part copied below has not changed.

CDD78FB6-27AC-41DB-8439-55DBD373A540.jpeg

Moderators note: this post was moved from another thread because it was clearly placed there in error. gahorn

Good catch, Gary... I summarized that incompletely. Thx....

However, I seriously doubt anyone who struck a pelican with their propeller while inflight will have noticed any momentary RPM loss it may have caused if the engine continued to run. (In such case, the SB perhaps might suggest if the pilot’s shorts require cleaning an engine inspection should be performed?)
If the engine were seriously damaged I’d speculate a long-period RPM change and/or vibration might develop. But I cannot imagine a chopped bird would affect the indicated cruise RPM because these tachs are not that sensitive and do not record momentarily.... But the blood and innards would be all over the place and certainly would gain one’s attention!

Suggestion

replace center strap screws that go through Plexiglas with Stainless Steel.

recheck compass.

Any thoughts about J B Weld on this simple crack.?

That’s a funny looking pelican, gary . To me it’s a goose running from the tax man .

Hard to find a photo of an inverted pelican. That goose picture must have been taken by Sully’s f/o. If you’ve had three large bird strikes how many near misses with birds have you had? Birds do some amazing last second maneuvers when they see a plane about to ruffle their feathers.

Descending at night from 8K indicating about 180 on the Twin Bonanza (Excalibur conversion) I hit a duck (or at least some kind of web-footed waterfowl) which passed thru the prop and entered the leading edge of the wing. The unrecognizable carcass/mass was smashed against the front wing spar and a 10” hole in the leading edge with a webbed-foot dangling out of it. (A Twin Bonanza is a heavy-skinned wing similar ot a King Air and it looked like a cannon-ball had entered it.)

gahorn wrote:

n2582d wrote:

gahorn wrote:Ghost flyer, if the propeller doesn’t have to be removed for repair then it’s not considered a prop strike by Continental.

SB96-11 has two parts to the definition of a prop strike. I would think a pelican might have enough mass to cause a loss of rpm if hit dead center. Is that true Ghostflyer? This service bulletin has been revised (it’s now SB96-11B) but the applicable part copied below has not changed.

CDD78FB6-27AC-41DB-8439-55DBD373A540.jpeg

Moderators note: this post was moved from another thread because it was clearly placed there in error. gahorn

Good catch, Gary... I summarized that incompletely. Thx....

However, I seriously doubt anyone who struck a pelican with their propeller while inflight will have noticed any momentary RPM loss it may have caused if the engine continued to run. (In such case, the SB perhaps might suggest if the pilot’s shorts require cleaning an engine inspection should be performed?)
If the engine were seriously damaged I’d speculate a long-period RPM change and/or vibration might develop. But I cannot imagine a chopped bird would affect the indicated cruise RPM because these tachs are not that sensitive and do not record momentarily.... But the blood and innards would be all over the place and certainly would gain one’s attention!

Hard to tell if the watermelon in this video caused an RPM change or not...

Note: they say in the video that this plane is de-registered and was going to be scrapped due to structural damage.

The female pilot (Steph) in this video is a 170B owner and 170 association member or was a member

So after showing us how dangerous propellers can be, he does a stand-up shot in the hangar, absent-mindedly moving the prop with his hands, paying no attention to it.

Unless that engine was trash and the rest of the plane was headed to the scrap yard, that seems a very poor example of judgement. To each his own I guess.

170C wrote:Unless that engine was trash and the rest of the plane was headed to the scrap yard, that seems a very poor example of judgement. To each his own I guess.

If you watch their promo, they plan to totally destroy the plane and all the components and parts in it by cutting them open so pilots can see how things are built.

Over the years flying MedEvac in a helicopter, I've hit many birds, bats or really big bugs. Not that unusual really. Many crew members always had their helmet shields down just in case something comes through the windshield.

I know of two stories in particular of friends in helicopters and birds. The first was a vulture who came through a windshield in front of the pilot. The pilot miraculously was able to land the helicopter with plexi and blood in his face and eyes AND a very mad vulture scratching the and biting the heck out of him. The worst turned out to be the wounds from the vulture that got infected.

A helicopter and medical crew I about a year after repairs was only still with us because of a quick thinking pilot. At night, two Canada geese came through the windshield and knocked both engine throttles to idle. This was prior to NVGs. The pilot was only about 1000 ft off the ground and going down in the dark in an auto wondering what the heck just happened. It dawned on him that what ever it was that came through the windshield knocked the throttles off line and he reached up in the seconds he had and threw them back on in time to make a power recovery and touch down. The windshields where replaced, the engines and drive line had to be removed and inspected for over speeds in the event. But all walked away.

Last my very first bird strike was in a Huey. On departure from our base as we were ascending and gaining forward speed about 50 ft of the ground a flock of a couple hundred seaguls flushed up and through the main rotor blades. Most made it through the blades but 3 or 4 that I could see, feel to the earth like a spinning Maple tree seedling.