gerbil runner Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Chicken Engineering at Its Finest In a recent issue of Meat & Poultry magazine, editors quoted from ''Feathers,'' the publication of the California Poultry Industry Federation, telling the following story: It seems the US Federal Aviation Administration has a unique device for testing the strength of windshields on airplanes. The device is a gun that launches a dead chicken at a plane's windshield at approximately the speed the airplane flies. The theory is that if the windshield can withstand the carcass test impact, it'll survive a real collision with a bird during flight. Apparently, the British were very interested in this and wanted to test a windshield on a brand new, high-speed train they were developing.. They borrowed the FAA's chicken launcher, loaded a chicken and fired. The ballistic chicken not only shattered the windshield, but went through the engineer's seat, broke an instrument panel, and was imbedded in the back wall of the engine cab. The British were stunned and asked the FAA to review the test to see if everything was done correctly. The FAA reviewed the data thoroughly and had one recommendation: ''Use a thawed chicken.'' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay A. Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 As an avid collector of all things chicken (my one remaining "fowl habit") I am stunned by this. I may never stop laughing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerbil runner Posted March 15, 2004 Author Share Posted March 15, 2004 I can't help but wonder - did those Brits really think they'd find a naturally-occuring frozen bird?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanCarl Posted March 15, 2004 Share Posted March 15, 2004 Jen, Only birds that flew REALLY high. The Discovery Channel show "Myth Busters" actually BUILT a "chicken gun", although I believe they used turkeys for their test. Only thing I can figure is there's a bunch of folks with WAY too much time on their hands! Dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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