Ba Ba Ba Birdstrike

[F22RaptorDude]

Wolf was VERY nice came up and let me fly his plane and got me hooked.  He also told me to save the money and do it all at once, as you save money not forgetting what you learned the last lesson, I was going to take out a personal loan to do it but am in the middle of trying to switch jobs.  Maybe a loan would work for you as well??  I paid for an intro flight which was 50 just to get a little more stick time.  BTW Wolf thanks for everything

I'm in the middle of learning how to do my job, its very difficult learning everything, and they say it just gets a heck of a lot harder

This will become common as you progress.

Oh a good idea would be to run by an FBO (fixed base operator at the airport) and pick up a sectional chart. Just look at it, learn to read it, and become comfortable with your area. 

I'm re reading FBO and still wondering what in the world that is...

I think I paid about 7,000 total for my PPL.

F22Raptor - you are young and will catch on quick. You'll save a lot of money in that department.

Once I ca get over myself being to shy to really come out and go talk to people I might have a chance, I have a very bad case of social anxiety

[W7LPNRICK]

I think I remember reading about the worst bird to hit & it surprised me because I figured it would be some dang big Goose or other, but they say starlings, I think, fly extremely high for such a small bird & when hit by a supersonic fighter, really look like a feathered mortar shell than a bird strike.
Of course Deer-strike might be worse...
 

[Wolfala]

I think I remember reading about the worst bird to hit & it surprised me because I figured it would be some dang big Goose or other, but they say starlings, I think, fly extremely high for such a small bird & when hit by a supersonic fighter, really look like a feathered mortar shell than a bird strike.
Of course Deer-strike might be worse...
(Image removed from quote.) 

Pretty bad hit on that F-4

[Rino]

     FBO=Fixed Base Operator.  Usually where you can find flight schools and gas, often stores for pilot supplies.
The ones I worked you could also find a flight line full of jets whose flaps cost more than your cessna 

[Seanaldinho]

     FBO=Fixed Base Operator.  Usually where you can find flight schools and gas, often stores for pilot supplies.
The ones I worked you could also find a flight line full of jets whose flaps cost more than your cessna 

What he said. Its just a company at the airport that sells pilot stuff fuel and rents planes. My local one is called Emerald Coast Aviation.

Social Anxiety I hate to say but is something you need to get past. Networking is still the number one way to get a job. I was out at a grass strip a couple of weeks ago and saw I guy tinkering with his plane in the hanger, so I walked up said Hi, introduced myself and just asked him to tell me about his plane and where hes from. You could get a few free rides out of it as well. If there is an EAA chapter near you join up. Just start talking to people feel your way around and relax. That is the biggest thing you can learn in aviation (for me it was at least) dont stress out. Think things through and make a logical and assertive decision when needed.
There is an old joke about a military aviator losing both engines after takeoff guess what the first thing he does is? Check his watch. Next is fly the airplane.

[eagl]

What he said. Its just a company at the airport that sells pilot stuff fuel and rents planes. My local one is called Emerald Coast Aviation.

Social Anxiety I hate to say but is something you need to get past. Networking is still the number one way to get a job. I was out at a grass strip a couple of weeks ago and saw I guy tinkering with his plane in the hanger, so I walked up said Hi, introduced myself and just asked him to tell me about his plane and where hes from. You could get a few free rides out of it as well. If there is an EAA chapter near you join up. Just start talking to people feel your way around and relax. That is the biggest thing you can learn in aviation (for me it was at least) dont stress out. Think things through and make a logical and assertive decision when needed.
There is an old joke about a military aviator losing both engines after takeoff guess what the first thing he does is? Check his watch. Next is fly the airplane.

It's funny, but yes we actually teach student pilots that one way to avoid inappropriate initial reactions is to reach up and hack the clock (start a timer running).  It can have actual value later on (with some failures you have a limited amount of time on battery power, gyros spin about 10 minutes without power, fuel remaining can be roughly estimated based on time if fuel quantity is not available, etc) and it lets the pilot reset his brain away from *holy crap what just happened* towards *ok let's figure this out and take logical steps to deal with it*.  Right after I hack the clock.

[Rino]

    Bah, that Phantom ain't even breathing hard    The Army had a tough time with deer at Morristown, every time they managed to catch
a prop in their U-21s.  Well I guess that meant you and I had a tough time as taxpayers paid for it.



     A good pucker factor deer strike happened to a Labcorp Navaho on takeoff about 0100 in the morning.  Caught two small ones right at the nacelles, left side messed up the deer badly but didn't do any serious damage.  The right one went through the prop then snapped the scissors
link on the right main gear.  The wheel rotated about 70 degrees to the left.  He left a skid mark for about 1800 feet on the runway.  It was a
brand new tire that astonishingly didn't blow.  

     I spent most of the night trying to call folks to help me move the disabled aircraft and warn other pilots about the runway blockage as the
tower closed at 22:30 and wouldn't open until 0700  

[eagl]

Regarding anxiety while flying... I knew someone who had low level anxiety for much of his life.  He went through his civilian flying training just fine including initial solo and area solos, up until his first long cross country.  He got halfway to his destination and had a panic attack.  He doesn't remember much of the rest of the flight until the plane was parked in front of his home field FBO.  He was pretty lucky to make it home and he never sat in a light aircraft ever again.  Too bad, because he was smart enough to breeze past the studying and a fairly natural pilot so the flying part was not a problem.  But his body betrayed him and nearly killed him.

[Rino]

What he said. Its just a company at the airport that sells pilot stuff fuel and rents planes. My local one is called Emerald Coast Aviation.

Social Anxiety I hate to say but is something you need to get past. Networking is still the number one way to get a job. I was out at a grass strip a couple of weeks ago and saw I guy tinkering with his plane in the hanger, so I walked up said Hi, introduced myself and just asked him to tell me about his plane and where hes from. You could get a few free rides out of it as well. If there is an EAA chapter near you join up. Just start talking to people feel your way around and relax. That is the biggest thing you can learn in aviation (for me it was at least) dont stress out. Think things through and make a logical and assertive decision when needed.
There is an old joke about a military aviator losing both engines after takeoff guess what the first thing he does is? Check his watch. Next is fly the airplane.

     Very good advice here.  Very often it's who not what you know 

     The joke reminds me of a story some old corporate guys that flew for BASF used to tell.  All these guys had been flying corporate since God
was a teenager and were very low key.  One of them went on vacation, so they were checking out a temp to fill in while he was gone.  The temp
was extraordinarily concerned about the single engine performance in the King Air 200 they were flying.  They were flying on one fan and
eventually Randy got tired of his harping.  So he pulled back the other power lever and said "You don't need to worry about single engine
performance...it's zero engine performance you need to worry about!"

[cpxxx]

Back onto birdstrikes, my only event was a swallow or swift that hit the windscreen during take off. It missed the prop so no mess fortunately. There were several big herons based near the airfield but they were very good aviators and only had one close encounter and it saw me coming and banked away hard.

But my most dangerous encounter was with a 'murder' of crows which rose as one from the field beyond the runway just as I got airborne and was still low and slow with a full load of skydivers. I had to turn at less than fifty feet. The skydivers started complaining until they saw what we just missed. 

[B4Buster]

Anyone ever have strange encounters with birds of prey?

I have had an eagle turn to look at, then start following my plane. It was almost like he was chasing me. He was a ways off, so I wasn't worried about a strike, but it was interesting to watch.

A friend of mine said he experienced the same thing.

edit:

oh and F22 - also search the web for aviation scholarships. I know a few folks who have gotten anywhere from $500 - $3,000 towards training.

[Tupac]

The last 2 days I have been flying out of a grass strip on the white river in Arkansas. There are swans who like to get on the approach end of the runway (one way in and one way out due to a hill with highline wires)

[icepac]

Just remember that most every bird dives when he's in any sort of trouble so don't nose down to avoid them.

[B4Buster]

   Bah, that Phantom ain't even breathing hard    The Army had a tough time with deer at Morristown, every time they managed to catch
a prop in their U-21s.  Well I guess that meant you and I had a tough time as taxpayers paid for it.

(Image removed from quote.)

     A good pucker factor deer strike happened to a Labcorp Navaho on takeoff about 0100 in the morning.  Caught two small ones right at the nacelles, left side messed up the deer badly but didn't do any serious damage.  The right one went through the prop then snapped the scissors
link on the right main gear.  The wheel rotated about 70 degrees to the left.  He left a skid mark for about 1800 feet on the runway.  It was a
brand new tire that astonishingly didn't blow.  

     I spent most of the night trying to call folks to help me move the disabled aircraft and warn other pilots about the runway blockage as the
tower closed at 22:30 and wouldn't open until 0700  

King Air C90? Hoping to get some right seat time in one of those. The FBO I work part-time for is looking at buying one (they had one years ago but sold it)

That one doesn't appear to be pressurized

[Tordon22]

Got any anxiety reducing tips from F-15 land Eagl? I do fine solo and dual, but toss a check pilot in the plane and performance decreases by like 25%. Fake myself out .


And regarding deer strikes, we had one here that knocked the left gear off a piper cadet. Instructor saw the deer sprinting across the runway at the last second and was able to rotate the plane prematurely just enough to clear the deer with the prop, it did strike and knock off the left gear. After clearing the deer he smartly stayed in ground effect until an appropriate speed. Was able to go up and fly patterns to burn off fuel and make a good landing considering.

Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-jewwasyw