richman@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu (11/03/88)
Did anyone else catch the story in Wed. Nov. 2nd Wall Street
Journal about the new army helicopter. Seems that they have
developed a new helicopter engine which was "tested" by tossing
live birds into it to insure it wouldn't stall. Any comments?
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Mike Richman
internet: richman@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=ashcraft@yale.UUCP (Cleve Ashcraft) (11/07/88)
In article <56200001@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> richman@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes: > >Did anyone else catch the story in Wed. Nov. 2nd Wall Street >Journal about the new army helicopter. Seems that they have >developed a new helicopter engine which was "tested" by tossing >live birds into it to insure it wouldn't stall. Any comments? i don't know about live birds and helicopter engines, but there was a story i heard about boeing testing their jet engines by shooting frozen turkeys into the engines while at full power. considering that flocks of birds getting chewed up in jet engines can bring down a plane, some kind of testing should be done.
kaufman@maxzilla.Encore.COM (Lar Kaufman) (11/07/88)
In article <56200001@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> richman@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes: >Did anyone else catch the story in Wed. Nov. 2nd Wall Street >Journal about the new army helicopter. Seems that they have >developed a new helicopter engine which was "tested" by tossing >live birds into it to insure it wouldn't stall. Any comments? >Mike Richman Mike, I didn't read the article, so I cannot comment on the particular thing you are citing. However, all aircraft engines are tested for resistance to bird strike damage as part of the FAA certification process. The tests do not use live birds. In fact, they use commercially obtained fowl that would have otherwise become someone's dinner. The birds are fired at the intakes of the turbine engine as it develops full rated power, using a pneumatic cannon. The engine must continue to produce a substantial amount of power after ingesting the bird(s). Nothing inhumane in this, and although the applicability of the test to real conditions of use might be challenged, the procedure has resulted in significant strengthening and redesign of a number of modern aircraft engines. -lar Lar Kaufman <= my opinions Fidonet: 1:322/470@508-534-1842 kaufman@multimax.arpa {bu-cs,decvax,necntc,talcott}!encore!kaufman
willner@cfa250.harvard.edu (Steve Willner P-316 x57123) (11/08/88)
From article <56200001@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>, by richman@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu: > [Army] developed a new helicopter engine which was "tested" by tossing > live birds into it to insure it wouldn't stall. Any comments? All jet engines are tested using a special cannon that fires chicken carcasses into them at > 100 mph. The danger is not so much a simple engine failure as an explosion, or at least damage that could send shrapnel in all directions. Airplanes do frequently strike birds, and safe air travel requires that the consequences not be catastrophic. (For the airplane, anyway; it's usually fatal for the bird!) There is no obvious need to use live birds for this test, and I would suspect a reporting error. -- Steve Willner Phone 617-495-7123 Bitnet: willner@cfa 60 Garden St. FTS: 830-7123 UUCP: willner@cfa Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Internet: willner@cfa.harvard.edu