FFAARRKKK rying out loud..

[motzartmerv]

Anyone hit any eagles lately??..I know one member who has....................Darkers????

 

 

[Ultralights]

ohhhh arnt eagles a protected species? dont let the greenies find out

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

haha, ok, fine

 

This is what I did on my weekend:

 

[ATTACH]12359.vB[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]12361.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Can't say it was that much fun...

 

 

 

 

 

[motzartmerv]

well...you know what i wanna say....but better not......;)

 

 

[Spin]

Geez Darky, no half measures with you - looks more like an emu strike than an eagle. You're obviously back in one piece, that as always is the main thing. Give us the story when you've settled the nerves.

 

 

[planedriver]

Your a lucky girl Darky.

 

Thank God it did'nt come through the windscreen. Things could have been a lot worse.

 

Regds

 

Planey

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

Were you solo or dual?

dual (thankfully)

 

 

[ahlocks]

Strewth it made a mess darkHeart!

 

How'd the seat covers fare??

 

 

[Tomo]

You're very fortunate I reckon.

 

Check out the other side of the tail -

 

 

 

[Spin]

Answers a question I was going to pose, Tomo, that is nasty! I get cold shivers thinking what a more lightly built aircraft would have looked like.

 

 

[Admin]

Holy cow Darky, are you ok??? that would be one huge scare and enough to effect any one's thoughts. Look on the bright side...you have got one hell of a story to tell now...look after yourself!

 

 

[facthunter]

piper's full flying tail.

 

Good test of the flying tail. Glad it missed the screen. Put that one down to experience and give big birds a miss. Nev

 

 

[HEON]

Pitty no voice recorder...would have been interesting.

 

Can honestly say that is an aviation expearanse I have not had, nor want.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I could imagine the noise inside the aircraft when it hit. really lucky. no sign of the eagle? bet his bells were ringing. Good to see you are still with us.

 

 

[Chird65]

Dual deul

 

dual (thankfully)

Darky now you can say you were Duel.

 

really glad you are OK.

 

Given that is the last of the Warriors I learnt in it could be a sad day. :black_eye: BZA - D were my planes in the 80's.

 

Chris

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Glad you are both ok Darky.

 

Sh.t! I bet the plane didn't fly straight after that. Boy that's some serious damage!

 

I saw a couple of eagles circling in my path about two weeks ago, but climbed over them. When first spotted, I thought they were hawks. They passed about 70' or 80' under the aircraft and just to the port side, but my PAX and I sure got a close look. The size and brown wings gave them away as eagles. Definitely a majestic bird when they aren't trying to knock you out of the sky.

 

 

[Ultralights]

great story and pics worthy of a report in the CASA air safety mag! and a few other magazines

 

 

[Russ]

Mustiv been a sexually confused bugger.............he attacked your rear end.

 

 

[dazza 38]

The stabilator (full flying horizontal stabilizer) copped a mighty whack, check the starboard side creases in the fuselage, where the stab,has been knocked out of alignment, and hit the fuselage.I glad you where in a Piper Jennifer.

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

I'm glad to hear you're all pleased I'm still around

 

So, the story...

 

It was my 5th nav. We were onto the second leg, near the western edge of Melbourne, flying along doing our thing. I was in control.

 

I saw the eagle a second before the impact. I saw it to the left side of the nose, wings outstretched, I could see it's talons and everything.

 

A second later there was an almighty bang as the bird hit and I let out several words that I probably shouldn't be saying . We took a second to process what had happened, then the FI took control as we assessed the damage and we turned to head home. We thought it had hit the LH wing, so were mainly looking at that. There was a slight dent in the leading edge and some bloodstains but overall it seemed fine. It was flying quite well so I took control again as we headed back.

 

As we got over the initial adrenaline rush, we started to look more closely at it. It was flying quite well, but there was a slight vibration - but I wasn't sure if that was caused by the strike or if I was overanalysing normal things because of the strike. It was also flying fairly out of balance - needed a bootful of right rudder and if you released the pressure on the pedal it'd swing right out of balance again.

 

Then I heard my FI say quietly 'Look at the elevator'. I turned to look at the elevator and just softly went 'Holy ' You've seen the photos in my initial post - it was, well, kinda squashed. I think we both had a moment of 'Oh. My. God.'

 

My FI immediately took control and since we were closest to Moorabbin, we got a priority approach into YMMB and landed. We taxiied over to the maintenance hangar, shut down, then got out to finally see the full extent of the damage.

 

The bird had clearly hit the LH wing as we thought - there was a dent and bloodstains and a single feather hanging off it. Then it seemed to have gone over the top of the wing and hit the stabilator. There was also a dent in the fuselage on the RH side (see tomo's post with my photo).

 

We called the school and they sent someone over to pick us up and we headed home (in a different plane to the one we left in!). It didn't really hit me until I was driving home from the field, I think I was running on adrenaline until then. I think I spent the rest of the weekend thinking about it.

 

I have to say, I was very very glad it happened in the Warrior rather than something like the Jab. Warrior's are built like tanks and it still suffered that much damage. I'm guessing the eagle is dead or if not, it'll definitely have a serious headache

 

Pitty no voice recorder...would have been interesting.

Actually, probably not as interesting as you'd imagine. A big bang, a loud expletive/exclamation after the bang, a quiet 'holy ****' after seeing the elevator and, other than that, calm discussion.

 

Given that is the last of the Warriors I learnt in it could be a sad day. :black_eye: BZA - D were my planes in the 80's.

Never fear, Bazza is still flying :) This was a different one.

 

Sh.t! I bet the plane didn't fly straight after that. Boy that's some serious damage!

Considering the damage, it was actually flying pretty well! Just a slight vibration and out of balance, but definitely better than you'd expect with that damage.

 

How'd the seat covers fare??

haha, they were just fine

 

 

[ahlocks]

How'd the seat covers fare??

haha, they were just fine

 

So you took it in your stride..(s) ..... or words to that effect.

 

 

[Bryon]

Darks,

 

I am so disappointed;

 

You know I collect eagle feathers and you didnt even stop and pick up a couple for me...........

 

 

[planedriver]

Well done Darky you made it back safely. That is the main thing thats important to us all. The Spam-can can be fixed.

 

Next year, before Melbourne Cup Day, if you need a few feathers for your hat, sing out, i'm sure there'd be a chook farmer on here somewhere, who'd be happy to come to your rescue.

 

Rgds

 

Planey

 

 

[flying dog]

Hi Jen.

 

Sorry for the late reply. Dexter told me of the story.

 

Putting aside Planedriver's requset for the feather, I would suggest YOU Keep it as a reminder/souvenire (how ever you spell it).

 

I too am glad you are none the worse for it.

 

Take care and good luck with the study.

 

 

[Yenn]

That could so easily have ended differently, the damage looks more as if it was an emu you hit. The one that scares me is a pelican, it looks heavier than an eagle and comes in flocks. Congratulations on keeping a cool head.