Chicken gun: Difference between revisions
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The device was used at the High Power Laboratory until November 1943. In early 1945, the device was moved to a CAA research & development location in [[Indianapolis]], called the Indianapolis Experimental Station, where it was used to test components for various commercial aircraft manufacturers.<ref name="snarge">{{cite web |last1=Fortier |first1=Rénald |title=I want to know what snarge is, I want you to show me, or not {{!}} The Channel |url=https://ingeniumcanada.org/channel/articles/i-want-to-know-what-snarge-is-i-want-you-to-show-me-or-not |website=ingeniumcanada.org |access-date=15 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The device was retired at some point in 1947.<ref name="caatechreport"> {{cite techreport |first=Pell |last=Kangas |author2=George L. Pigman |title=Development of Aircraft Windshields to Resist Impact with Birds in Flight Part II|number= 74|institution=Civil Aeronautics Administration |date=February 1950 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JcE12O4uorIC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2|access-date=2021-05-15}}</ref> A similar device was independently developed by the [[de Havilland|de Havilland Aircraft Company]] in the United Kingdom in the mid 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=El-Sayed |first1=Ahmed F. |title=Bird strike in aviation : statistics, analysis and management |date=2019 |location=Chichester, West Sussex, UK |isbn=9781119529736 |pages=269 |ref=elsayedbirdstrike}}</ref> The UK's [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]] built a chicken gun in 1961, and in 1967 the Canadian [[National Research Council (Canada)|National Research Council]]'s Division of Mechanical Engineering used that device as a basis for their "Flight Impact Simulator Facility", based next to [[Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport|Ottawa airport]].<ref name="nrcbirdplane">{{cite web|url=http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/achievements/highlights/2007/bird_plane.html|publisher=[[National Research Council of Canada]]|title=It's a Bird, It's a Plane... It's a Bird Striking a Plane|date=January 2007|accessdate=2009-09-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622080034/http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/achievements/highlights/2007/bird_plane.html|archive-date=2013-06-22|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
The device was used at the High Power Laboratory until November 1943. In early 1945, the device was moved to a CAA research & development location in [[Indianapolis]], called the Indianapolis Experimental Station, where it was used to test components for various commercial aircraft manufacturers.<ref name="snarge">{{cite web |last1=Fortier |first1=Rénald |title=I want to know what snarge is, I want you to show me, or not {{!}} The Channel |url=https://ingeniumcanada.org/channel/articles/i-want-to-know-what-snarge-is-i-want-you-to-show-me-or-not |website=ingeniumcanada.org |access-date=15 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The device was retired at some point in 1947.<ref name="caatechreport"> {{cite techreport |first=Pell |last=Kangas |author2=George L. Pigman |title=Development of Aircraft Windshields to Resist Impact with Birds in Flight Part II|number= 74|institution=Civil Aeronautics Administration |date=February 1950 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JcE12O4uorIC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2|access-date=2021-05-15}}</ref> A similar device was independently developed by the [[de Havilland|de Havilland Aircraft Company]] in the United Kingdom in the mid 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=El-Sayed |first1=Ahmed F. |title=Bird strike in aviation : statistics, analysis and management |date=2019 |location=Chichester, West Sussex, UK |isbn=9781119529736 |pages=269 |ref=elsayedbirdstrike}}</ref> The UK's [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]] built a chicken gun in 1961, and in 1967 the Canadian [[National Research Council (Canada)|National Research Council]]'s Division of Mechanical Engineering used that device as a basis for their "Flight Impact Simulator Facility", based next to [[Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport|Ottawa airport]].<ref name="nrcbirdplane">{{cite web|url=http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/achievements/highlights/2007/bird_plane.html|publisher=[[National Research Council of Canada]]|title=It's a Bird, It's a Plane... It's a Bird Striking a Plane|date=January 2007|accessdate=2009-09-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622080034/http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/achievements/highlights/2007/bird_plane.html|archive-date=2013-06-22|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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In the 1970s, [[Goodyear Aerospace]] |
In the 1970s, [[Goodyear Aerospace]] developed a chicken gun that stored compressed air behind a [[ceramic]] [[Diaphragm seal|diaphragm]] and used a cardboard [[Sabot_(firearms)|sabot]] to center and stablize the chicken. When fired, a needle struck the diaphragm, rupturing the seal and allowing the air to propel the projectile down the barrel. A metal ring on the muzzle stopped the sabot, but allowed the chicken to escape the barrel.<ref name="polymericmatrix">{{cite book |last1=Pochiraju |first1=Kishore V. |last2=Tandon |first2=Gyaneshwar P. |last3=Schoeppner |first3=Gregory A. |title=Long-term durability of polymeric matrix composites |date=2012 |publisher=Springer |location=New York |isbn=9781441993076 |page=160 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-Wwy71BRzgAC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160#v=onepage&q&f=false |access-date=15 May 2021}}</ref> |
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The [[United States Air Force]] commissioned the [[AEDC Ballistic Range S-3]] to test airplane canopies, which began operating in 1972.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Caletrello |first1=Stephan |title=Something to crow about: Rooster Booster proves old-fashioned ingenuity needn't be high-tech. |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Something+to+crow+about%3A+Rooster+Booster+proves+old-fashioned...-a0136077115 |website=The Free Library |publisher=Farlex |accessdate=27 September 2019}}</ref> |
The [[United States Air Force]] commissioned the [[AEDC Ballistic Range S-3]] to test airplane canopies, which began operating in 1972. The gun was later used to test other aircraft parts such as the leading edges of wings.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Caletrello |first1=Stephan |title=Something to crow about: Rooster Booster proves old-fashioned ingenuity needn't be high-tech. |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Something+to+crow+about%3A+Rooster+Booster+proves+old-fashioned...-a0136077115 |website=The Free Library |publisher=Farlex |accessdate=27 September 2019}}</ref> |
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==Use in certification of aircraft== |
==Use in certification of aircraft== |
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Revision as of 15:50, 15 May 2021
A chicken gun or flight impact simulator is a large-diameter, compressed-air cannon used to fire dead chickens at aircraft components in order to simulate high-speed bird strikes during the aircraft's flight. Jet engines and aircraft windshields are particularly vulnerable to damage from such strikes, and are the most common target in such tests. Although various species of bird are used in aircraft testing and certification, the device acquired the common name of "chicken gun" as chickens are the most commonly used 'ammunition' owing to their relative abundance.
Development
The first recorded chicken gun was built in 1942 by the US Civil Aeronautics Administration in collaboration with the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. Built at Westinghouse's High Power Laboratory in Pittsburgh, it was capable of firing bird carcasses at up to 400 mph, although most tests were conducted with muzzle velocities around 270 mph. The tests conducted with this cannon were the first of their kind, and showed that the glass used in the windshields of common passenger aircraft such as the Douglas DC3 were extremely vulnerable to bird strikes; panels were penetrated completely by a four-pound bird traveling at only 75 mph. Subsequent testing showed that laminate panels made of glass interleaved with polyvinyl chloride were far more resistant.[1]
The device was used at the High Power Laboratory until November 1943. In early 1945, the device was moved to a CAA research & development location in Indianapolis, called the Indianapolis Experimental Station, where it was used to test components for various commercial aircraft manufacturers.[2] The device was retired at some point in 1947.[3] A similar device was independently developed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company in the United Kingdom in the mid 1950s.[4] The UK's Royal Aircraft Establishment built a chicken gun in 1961, and in 1967 the Canadian National Research Council's Division of Mechanical Engineering used that device as a basis for their "Flight Impact Simulator Facility", based next to Ottawa airport.[5]
In the 1970s, Goodyear Aerospace developed a chicken gun that stored compressed air behind a ceramic diaphragm and used a cardboard sabot to center and stablize the chicken. When fired, a needle struck the diaphragm, rupturing the seal and allowing the air to propel the projectile down the barrel. A metal ring on the muzzle stopped the sabot, but allowed the chicken to escape the barrel.[6]
The United States Air Force commissioned the AEDC Ballistic Range S-3 to test airplane canopies, which began operating in 1972. The gun was later used to test other aircraft parts such as the leading edges of wings.[7]
Use in certification of aircraft
Both the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency require that aircraft engines and airframes be resilient against bird strikes to a certain degree as part of the airworthiness certification process. In general, an engine should not suffer an uncontained failure after impact with a suitably-sized bird, and a bird strike to the airframe of a craft should not prevent "continued safe flight [and a] normal landing".[8]
Chicken guns are routinely used in this certification process. The component to be tested is mounted securely on a frame, the cannon fires a bird at it, and the results are examined for compliance with the relevant standards.[9] Most tests are performed with the cannon pressurized to around 35 psi - this results in a four pound bird being launched at around 350 miles per hour, approximately the resultant velocity in a collision between a bird and an aircraft at take-off or landing.[5]
The FAA do not specify the species of bird that should be used for testing, but do state that the birds should not be frozen - as this would not accurately reflect the reality of a strike. Chickens are used as they are cheap, and readily available.[9] After the ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in 2009, the FAA mandated that engines undergo a physical ingestion test at take-off power.[10]
Notable uses
During the development of the Boeing 757 in the 1970s, the cockpit windows were subjected to a "chicken test", where "an anesthetized 4-pound [1.8 kg] chicken was loaded in a pneumatic gun and fired at 360 knots [410 mph; 670 km/h] head-on".[11] The process was described as "a very messy test."[11]
See also
References
- ^ Morse, A. L. (July 1943). "Bird-proof windshields". Flying Magazine. pp. 40–42. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ Fortier, Rénald. "I want to know what snarge is, I want you to show me, or not | The Channel". ingeniumcanada.org. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ Kangas, Pell; George L. Pigman (February 1950). Development of Aircraft Windshields to Resist Impact with Birds in Flight Part II (Technical report). Civil Aeronautics Administration. 74. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ El-Sayed, Ahmed F. (2019). Bird strike in aviation : statistics, analysis and management. Chichester, West Sussex, UK. p. 269. ISBN 9781119529736.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b "It's a Bird, It's a Plane... It's a Bird Striking a Plane". National Research Council of Canada. January 2007. Archived from the original on June 22, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
- ^ Pochiraju, Kishore V.; Tandon, Gyaneshwar P.; Schoeppner, Gregory A. (2012). Long-term durability of polymeric matrix composites. New York: Springer. p. 160. ISBN 9781441993076. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ Caletrello, Stephan. "Something to crow about: Rooster Booster proves old-fashioned ingenuity needn't be high-tech". The Free Library. Farlex. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ "Aircraft Certification for Bird Strike Risk - SKYbrary Aviation Safety". www.skybrary.aero. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ a b Downer, John. "Epistemological Chicken: What do we learn from aircraft 'bird-ingestion' tests?" (PDF). London School of Economics.
- ^ Trimble, Stephen. "Regulators propose new rule for engine bird ingestion". Flight Global. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ a b Rinearson, Peter (June 21, 1983). "Designing the 757". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.