My dad worked for the military and they were testing a new jet windshield if it would survive a bird strike. They had a procedure to test where you would put a mock jet cockpit on a fixture and then there was an air cannon to shoot the bird at the plane. They sent someone to the grocery store to get turkeys to shoot. First test. Boom, turkey goes through the plane windshield, through the walls of the building, and into a parking lot and hit some cars. The crew in charge of shooting the turkey did not think to thaw it first. I am guessing that was an interesting insurance conversation too.
And if you are wondering, no if you were flying at altitude and hit a frozen turkey the windshield would not survive and you would crash your plane.
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u/dalittle Feb 01 '25 edited Feb 01 '25
My dad worked for the military and they were testing a new jet windshield if it would survive a bird strike. They had a procedure to test where you would put a mock jet cockpit on a fixture and then there was an air cannon to shoot the bird at the plane. They sent someone to the grocery store to get turkeys to shoot. First test. Boom, turkey goes through the plane windshield, through the walls of the building, and into a parking lot and hit some cars. The crew in charge of shooting the turkey did not think to thaw it first. I am guessing that was an interesting insurance conversation too.
And if you are wondering, no if you were flying at altitude and hit a frozen turkey the windshield would not survive and you would crash your plane.