Yesterday the wife and flew to Chilliwack for a late lunch/ early dinner. Great flight there and a good meal. Evening flight back and watched an amazing red sunset. The sky was the color of a lava flow and just beautiful. The sun has set and I had about 15 minutes to down time and the tower clears me to land. There is a small field we have to fly over on final and sometimes the geese are there this time of year so I usually use a steep approach. I had the 172 set up with full flaps, throttle off and 50mph indicated, everything was as it should be. All of a sudden I could feel something hitting the wheels and for a moment I could not figure out what was going on. Next thing I know I am in the middle of this HUGE flock of Canada geese. Just as they start bumping the plane the tower came on the radio and warned me there might be some bird activity in that area but he could not see them so he advised me to use caution. I was very busy so I did not answer him but I though,NO SHIT HENRY BROWN. Everything went into slow motion and there were geese everywhere but they were flying in the same direction I was and they were flying almost as fast as I was. I began using the rudder to try and avoid any bird directly in front of me and missed most buy cut the neck off one bird with the prop. That bird came back and hit the plane right at the wing root /windshield intersection on my wife's side and left a big pile of goose shit to clean up. It was very weird because I could feel birds hitting the plane all over but it was more like slow bumping. We landed safely and I taxied to the hanger. I called ground and told him that I had a complaint to file. He asked what that was and I told him there were a lot of geese there and one of them crapped on my windshield and I want to file a complaint against that goose. I didn't think traffic controllers were supposed to laugh on the radio. We pushed the plane in the hanger and cleaned and inspected it very carefully and not one dent anywhere. I also did a runnout check on the prop and it is still at zero runnout. I consider my wife and I very lucky because things could have gone very differently in the blink of and eye.
KenW

Wow! Amazing there wasn't even a dent!

rw2 wrote:Wow! Amazing there wasn't even a dent!

Probably good thing you were going slow.

Glad all is good. Geese and deer in the state park that is right next to the runway I fly off that are worrisome. Hope I never hit any.

holy shit.That is what scares me is the damn geese.there big and heavy.

SA Maule wrote:They dumped a Boeing in the Hudson , we have problems with high flying vultures in South Africa I saw one while cruising happily at 9000 feet, scared the crap out of me

Yeah, a vulture was my scariest close call. Flying in the mountains of central Mexico at 8-9,000 feet it was a little above us and by the time I spotted it was doing that "terrified bird thing" where they tuck their wings and head for the deck. Passed through our altitude as a blur probably 20-30 feet in front of us. Were it not for those few feet it would have hit us dead center with possible results I don't even want to dwell on. Big bird.

rw2 wrote:

SA Maule wrote:They dumped a Boeing in the Hudson , we have problems with high flying vultures in South Africa I saw one while cruising happily at 9000 feet, scared the crap out of me

Yeah, a vulture was my scariest close call. Flying in the mountains of central Mexico at 8-9,000 feet it was a little above us and by the time I spotted it was doing that "terrified bird thing" where they tuck their wings and head for the deck. Passed through our altitude as a blur probably 20-30 feet in front of us. Were it not for those few feet it would have hit us dead center with possible results I don't even want to dwell on. Big bird.

I hate the scared bird dive maneuver.

There are a bunch of birds around here and they all seem to want to dive for the deck right next to us. Problem is, most of the aircraft I fly have a big spinny thing on top that wouldn't do very well if it were to eat a bird. Mildly frustrating.


Glad y'all made it through unscathed, 175!

Smaller birds than Canada geese can cause damage. I hit a Mallard with the landing gear leg of a rented 182 (identified by the remaining duck feathers stuck in the 182's tail feathers). It dented the fairing that surrounds the tubular gear legs of mid-70s and newer 182s. The "thunk" was hard enough that it felt like hitting a pothole with a car.

Glad you're OK.

Cary

Glad to hear you are ok 175!

Closest call(s) I've ever had were with bald eagles. They truly must be the "Lords of the Sky" because they are the one type of bird I have never seen try to avoid an airplane. They just ignore it, or glare at it. Certain times of the year there are a lot of them in the area of a local airport I fly to a lot (KOKH)-- no fish there, but a lot of mice etc when it's haying season, which is one of those times of the year.

This guy in Botswana wasn't so lucky with his Cessna 210, took a stork through the windshield. Lost an eye, and the non-pilot passenger managed a gear up landing. 175Magnum can feel extra lucky.

Hotrod, I second that about Eagles. Have been "glared" at...

BRD wrote:Hotrod, I second that about Eagles. Have been "glared" at...

A smokejumper told a story about their twin beech getting attacked by a Golden eagle. They were circling a smoke near a cliff dropping streamers. On about the third pass the eagle came out of a nest straight for the plane and hit the leading edge of the wing. It hit so hard they thought they were going down. left a dent about a foot deep in the wing

+1 for the bald eagle; almost took one out while on final approach in an Aztec with a FED on board!

What is it with Bald Eagles? Once cruising along at 1,500 feet agl I missed one by a few feet in my bright yellow Taylorcraft and I never saw him coming.

We had one get sucked into a jet here and shut down the active for a while. They're fearless.

SA Maule wrote:Bird he hit is a Maribou Stork, it weighs 20 kg, (40lbs) at 150kts through the windscreen, damage is evident

Jesus.

The biologists in Alaska explained (as I learned the hazards of bush float flying) that the Bald Eagle has no natural enemies in nature.
They just do not perceive anything in the sky as a threat to their survival. They will indeed hold course, in the face of a noisy radial beaver... until impact.
The Canada Goose will evade... but as you noted, in what manner and what heading???? All bets are off.
Glad it was just one for the memory files and no injuries. On the other hand, you had a National Geo moment, close up.

I was at a Planes of Fame Airshow a few years ago and a B17 hit a vulture. Huge dent in the leading edge of the plane. The B-17 is one tough aircraft so I don't even want to know what would have happened to my little plane.

I will try to dig up a picture. I have one somewhere.

Good story Ken. I've been there!
Rick.