BIRDS V. PLANES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 April 1938, Page 10

BIRDS V. PLANES

ENCOUNTERS IN THE AIR. COLLISIONS CAUSE TROUBLE. Every once in a while, big birds, the kind with feathers, get the idea that the air belongs exclusively to them and dispute the presence of man-made wings, writes Major A. Williams in the “New York World-Telegram.” Each encounter means one less bird with warlike intentions.

Chicken hawkes and eagles are the only warriors which set out with blood in their eyes for combat. Aviators can see them at great distances and generally manage to avoid them. Buzzards, ducks, and geese came into collision with aircraft because they are scared or just lumb. Several well-known aviators flying single-seaters have been attacked by big birds that resembled eagles. And not only would the hostile bundle of feathers attack once, but he would come back time and again for another go at the aeroplane. Big birds can do considerable damage to fabric-covered wings. Colliding squarely against metal wings, they can leave sizable dents. But a bird of any size can play havoc with a propeller when it is turning rapidly. Dick Atcherley, of the British Royal Air Force, had the hard luck of colliding

with a seagul while travelling about 350 miles an hour in a Schneider Cup racer. The gull struck the tip of a metal pontoon and tore a big hole in it. AGAINST RULES OF THE ROAD. From time to time air line pilots have trouble with big birds which do not seem familiar with the Bureau of Air Commerce rules of the road. By a strange coincidence, ■ the birds always strike the windshield in front of the pilots. Shatterproof though the glass is, the shock usually breaks a big hole in the windshield and the cockpit is clouded with feathers and spare parts of the dismembered bird. To my knowledge there has been only one case of a big bird deliberately attacking an air liner. In that instance the pilots had spied the bird at a distance. It appeared to be of great wing span. It was about 1000 feet higher than the transport aeroplane, and about half a mile ahead. Suddenly the bird folded its wings and started in a steep dive at the cockpit. The pilots saw it coming, throttled the engines and nosed down to avoid collision. This manoeuvre caused the crazy bird to dive at a steeper’ angle. And then the crash!

The eagle hit the left half of the windshield and tore a hole in the shatterproof glass with the sound of a pistol shot. The major portion of the eagle came through and landed against the pilot's chest. Stunned by the shock

and wiping blood from his face the pilot picked the war bird from his lap and deposited it on the floor behind him . I was practising aerobatics near a southern airport one day and flying clear of a big turkey buzzard that insisted on staying in my vicinity. Starting a dive, I saw the buzzard about 200 feet above me. Scared or confused, the buzzard folded his wings and dropped straight toward the nose of my ship. I snapped the throttle shut just as he hit the propeller had flown to pieces. I landed immediately, found no damage. But it required about two hours' hard work to wash and clean the engine of bird fuselage and landing gear lodged among the cylinders.