It's a plane... It's a bird?!?!

ahkahn said:
So in researching why the heck I picked up a bug splatter on the windscreen at 9000', I discovered that bugs and birds fly a heck of a lot higher than I ever realized.

What's the highest you've ever seen bugs/birds?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_by_flight_heights
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Bugs get lifted to great altitudes by thermals. I once flew through clouds of moths at six or seven thousand feet; there was an crop infestation happening and they were everywhere.


Dan
 
I was at 10.5 on my way to Dallas and had some large bird close to my alt. I thought it was a balloon till it flaps its wings. Totally shocked to see it.
 
Bald Eagles alone can fly over 10,000 feet high.
 
Had a pretty big bug go splat on the windshield at 7,500 ft over Indiana a few summers ago.
 
I wonder if they get spatial disorientation if they punch a cloud???
 
A friend of mine sucked a goose in a B-52 at FL230.... in the clouds. He didn't say if the goose was disorientated or not.

I almost hit a hawk over Albuquerque while descending through 12,000. ...although that is about 6500 AGL....and we both were VFR.
 
I've gotten bugs at 9,000 and higher.
 
I've seen a bird at 10,500... no clue what kind it was.
 
ahkahn said:
So in researching why the heck I picked up a bug splatter on the windscreen at 9000', I discovered that bugs and birds fly a heck of a lot higher than I ever realized.

What's the highest you've ever seen bugs/birds?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_by_flight_heights
Click to expand...

Dodged a soaring raptor at FL200 with a B-52 just as we started down. Didn't get a good look, it went by fast, but it was big. We all bet it was an Eagle.
 
I've hit real juicy bugs up at 8000'

Of course, my Quaker Parrot will fly as high in the back seat as the rest of the plane wants to go.
 
Not an altitude comment but a humiliation acknowledgement. I have confirmed that a soaring eagle can climb faster than a Cherokee 140 WOT.
 
Biggest bug I've ever hit was at 9,500. Left a permanent mark on the windshield.
 
I've heard of geese spotted at 30,000 feet in the flight levels. I believe it too. Birds have incredible respiratory systems, they're far more efficient than ours. And of course they get all the benefits from thin air we do.

Bugs have lousy respiratory and circulatory systems, but they don't need as much oxygen as we do. My guess is they get blown up that high by rising air.
 
SR-71 pilots have reported to hit bugs at cruise altitude. Can't really remember how high I've seen birds / bugs. Never hit a bird in an airplane. Hit several in helos including this one last year. Maybe 2,000 AGL.
 

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Velocity173 said:
SR-71 pilots have reported to hit bugs at cruise altitude. Can't really remember how high I've seen birds / bugs. Never hit a bird in an airplane. Hit several in helos including this one last year. Maybe 2,000 AGL.
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I got a rabbit on a spray run once, sucker jumped straight up and 'splat'.
 
I hit a herd of bugs in a thermal near Grants NM at 12,500. I thought the wing spars popped as it sounded like wood snapping and was a pretty sharp bump. When I got home there was a pretty serious smear of bug guts and little black beetle shells all along the left wing leading edge.

Traveling the Rio Grande Flyway over the bird sanctuary at 12,500 we spotted formations of Cranes well above us headed the other direction. This was a common occurrence as we traveled the flyway north and south at altitudes of 10K or more. We had a near miss with a Crane at 10,500 but I couldn't get his number to let FAA know he was at the wrong altitude.....

Frank
 
I had a conversation with the shop where I took my lessons, and the topic of bird strike came up. They say most planes brought in for repair have reported the strike happening between 4000 and 6000 feet, not the below 1500 feet on takeoff that seems to be what the FAA reports.
 
ahkahn said:
That would actually be kind of cool. I mean, you've done everything else, why not add "migrating with birds" to your repertoire??
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I migrated with whales and that was tons of fun, but I got paid for that as well. Need sponsorship... A motor glider could be another interesting platform to use, especially a gas-electric one, but the T/O Landing part would suck. You almost need amphibs.
 
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I was surprised to see a swallow today at 3000 feet. Not especially high, but have never seen anything but soaring birds while flying. There was a monster thermal nearby with a hawk in it.

Tim
 
What does that do to the resale value? :p
 
Henning said:
Yeah I would use an Eipper MX or similar.
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There's a bird (I think it's called the Peregrine Falcon or something like that) that reaches 240 mph. But I believe that's diving speed; I'm not sure what it cruises at.
 
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