beatlemike Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 After hearing so much on the news last week about the commercial airliner that landed in the hudson river. I have a question for you. If the problem is birds getting sucked into the fan blades is there a reason they dont have a large screen or guard on those to keep that from happening? To me it looks like they are enclosed except for the front. As you can tell I know absolutley nothing about aircrafts and have only flown once in my life and that was because i had no other choice. I know they are safer than cars put when I get on one I am terrified for the whole trip(and I was on some kind of sedative also).Did you ever have any close calls because of birds when you were still a pilot? Also are there any of the rest of you out there that are a big as weinie as I am when it comes to flying?Have a good Monday everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recce101 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 That's a reasonable question, one that's been asked for as long as we've had jet engines. The answer usually given is that modern engines are designed to withstand the ingestion of most birds, and the presence of a screen or guard would probably increase the number of engine failures: 1. At a minimum, the screen would disrupt airflow to the engine, reducing thrust and efficiency. 2. Birds, trash, ice, etc. accumulating on the screen could further disrupt or even block airflow to the engine. 3. The screen itself could fail and be sucked into the engine. In my 30 years of flying (about 13,000 hours) I had only a couple of bird strikes that caused any damage (dents in the leading edge of the wing). I did hear about one fatality in a two-seat jet trainer — a large bird came through the windscreen and killed one of the pilots. Was I ever apprehensive? As a pilot, no, except when I was being shot at. As a passenger, usually, though I tried to not let it show. It's a good thing I live in a place where I like to be! Ned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen in PA Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hi Ned. What a clear reply! My husband and I were talking about this just the other night (as I'm sure millions of others were too) and I tried to think of all the reasons but didn't come close to the real ones. I just forwarded your reply to hubby. Thanks! Ellen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.