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Flying Chicken UL? (Chicken Cannon; Bird Strike Testing)

_schnor

Gone But Not Forgotten
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I heard (maybe it's an UL) that when Eurotunnel were testing the windscreens of their trains, they fired turkeys at the windows through some sort of massive hydraulic doohickey.

The only problem was that whatever type of glass/plastic they used, it always shattered. It took a junior tester to realise that they shouldn't actually use frozen turkeys - that fresh ones were more than good enough :D
 
This reminds me of something that I read somewhere two or three years ago (can't check up on it, so it may or may not be true).
Anyway, when the prototype for the British high-speed train was being built and tested, the engineers decided to test it for bird strikes, by firing (dead) chickens at the windscreen, from a mini-cannon. The windscreens kept shattering, every time, no matter what material was used. Finally, the team turned in desperation to some visiting American colleagues who had had some ecperience with this particular testing procedure.
The Americans watched a test; when the windscreen shattered as usual, they turned to the Brits and said "Next time - try defrosting the chicken first."
:D
Edit: WAAAHHHHH!!!! Schnor got there first!!!!! :mad:
 
I don't find that windscreen thing that nice. So they try the safety of the windscreen but it keeps shattering. Instead of making a stronger windscreen, they just lower the test demands.

Anyway, I want' to know where you can buy chicken cannons :D
 
The frozen chicken story is probably an UL (http://www.snopes.com/science/cannon.htm ) but the 'Impact Simulator Gun' is real.

"In standard tests, a 4-lb bird has been generally adopted. Usually chickens are used, and one agency specifies that these must be 'barnyard fowls' because their body structures may be stronger than cage-reared chickens and so provide a more rigorous test. It is the practice to enclose the dead bird in a cloth or plastic sack to prevent it from disintegrating from air pressure during its passage from gun to target. The equipment is capable of propelling a 4-lb bird at speeds of up to 818 mph." (Bird Hazards to Aircraft, National Research Council of Canada)
 
A friend of mine used to fire chickens at glass for pilkington glass. Amazing what you get after you leave uni.
 
So he spent several years in university and then got a job shooting chickens at windows? How nice.
 
This one was told to me as true some time ago, but I got a sneaking suspicion it’s a UL…

A company in the US makes calibrated machines to test aircraft components for the effect of birdstrikes.

Basically it’s a high tech spring loaded gun calibrated so the effect of various size birds can be simulated at various air speeds.

They sold and installed the machine for an aircraft manufacturer in the Far East.

Two weeks later they get a call to say the thing is wrongly calibrated since it keeps smashing aircraft windscreens when the research indicates it shouldn’t.

A tech flies out from California and after an extensive test discovers they have been using frozen chickens.
 
significant that my story teller was a Brit and the incident happened 'in the Far East'.

Snopes has the culprits as Brits.

I loke the cat variant though (and before Waffen Cat FTMB Posse come down around my ears, let me say I hope this aspect really is a UL. 'No cats were harmed in the making of this UL :p ')
 
Firing frozen chickens does actually happen, apparently (well, according to my dad it does, anyway...).
 
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Chicken Cannon

This story reminds me of the Royal Canadian Air Farce "Chicken Cannon" sketch, based on a real device used to test airplane windows against bird impacts. It is an air cannon which fires a dead chicken (frozen or fresh according to the test) at the part to be tested at the speed with which it would hit an airplane in flight.

The CBC radio and television comedy troop, "Royal Canadian Air Farce", selects a suitable target each week and fires a disgusting mix of appropriate ammunition at their picture using just such a "chicken cannon".

The cannon is currently operated by Don Ferguson, one of the actors, who plays a military type who says "My friends call me Theresa", to which the audience responds "Hello, Theresa!"

chdoncs.gif


For example, if the target was George Bush and Tony Blair, they might use chocolate pudding, shredded documents, and Middle Eastern food to simulate bullsh*t, lies and the occupation of Iraq.

In fact, I expect somebody will suggest that the "chicken bomb" be the "chicken cannon" target of the week. I tried their online suggestion form but it wouldn't work for me.

Past targets and ammunition:
Past Targets of the Chicken Cannon
 
Re: Chicken Cannon

littleblackduck said:
This story reminds me of the Royal Canadian Air Farce "Chicken Cannon" sketch, based on a real device used to test airplane windows against bird impacts. It is an air cannon which fires a dead chicken (frozen or fresh according to the test) at the part to be tested at the speed with which it would hit an airplane in flight.
I have heard tell (possible UL, but the guy who told me about it said that his father had been involved) that due to changes in airworthiness regulations, the aircraft had to be able to sustain multiple bird strikes on the same spot within a certain period of time. In order to test this, a laser aimed, multi-barrel, rapid-fire, chicken gun had to be developed. :)

(Is this a UL gone wild?)
 
I wonder what sort of prints they get from the 'chicken cannon'?
 
As long as they defrost them first!
That reminds me of a story i heard once that may or may not be an urban myth, it begins with British Rail testing their new high speed trains, they wanted to test them for damage against bird strike, they contacted TGV the french train company who leant them a chicken cannon, used to emulate a bird strike at high speed, so the story goes, BR sets up the chicken cannon and firesitat the windscreen of the HST, the chicken smashes through the windscreen, through the cab door and ends up 2 cattiages back in the train, BR with concern contact TGV and ask what the hell went wrong, in a one sentance reply TGV send a message saying 'defrost the chicken'
 
The "defrost the chicken" story is a well-known legend whose origin has never been precisely determined. There are several variations on the story, with most of the variation involving the cast of characters. For example, the owners of a borrowed chicken gun have been identified as the FAA, USAF, NASA, British Aerospace, Rolls Royce, and other tech / engineering organizations. The borrowers have included just as many (and sometimes the very same) organizations.

The use of a compressed air 'gun' to test for bird strike impacts dates back several decades. The "thaw the chicken" gag has been a common UL in engineering circles since at least as early as the 1970s. It's almost always framed so as to make the borrowers look like naive idiots.

See, for example: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/catapoultry/
 
The "defrost the chicken" story is a well-known legend whose origin has never been precisely determined. There are several variations on the story, with most of the variation involving the cast of characters. For example, the owners of a borrowed chicken gun have been identified as the FAA, USAF, NASA, British Aerospace, Rolls Royce, and other tech / engineering organizations. The borrowers have included just as many (and sometimes the very same) organizations.

The use of a compressed air 'gun' to test for bird strike impacts dates back several decades. The "thaw the chicken" gag has been a common UL in engineering circles since at least as early as the 1970s. It's almost always framed so as to make the borrowers look like naive idiots.

See, for example: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/catapoultry/
I was pretty sure it was an UL but its still a good story
 
I was pretty sure it was an UL but its still a good story

Just because it proliferated as a legend with variable (and certainly) fictionalized elements (i.e., the identities of the parties involved) doesn't necessarily mean it's purely fiction. My guess is that the modern variations derive from an actual incident lost in the mists of engineering history.
 
Just because it proliferated as a legend with variable (and certainly) fictionalized elements (i.e., the identities of the parties involved) doesn't necessarily mean it's purely fiction. My guess is that the modern variations derive from an actual incident lost in the mists of engineering history.

I tend to believe that in many cases the UL thing is a bit of a misnomer - or at least, that the status of 'legend' is reached by way of repetition and development, rather than outright fabrication. I'd suggest that this is different to ostension, which seems to be applied when real world events mirror a pre-existing fabrication. I think a lot of urban legends are something that's happened somewhere - possibly many times - but not necessarily to, or in the way told by, the teller.
 
That reminds me of a story i heard once that may or may not be an urban myth, it begins with British Rail testing their new high speed trains, they wanted to test them for damage against bird strike, they contacted TGV the french train company who leant them a chicken cannon, used to emulate a bird strike at high speed, so the story goes, BR sets up the chicken cannon and firesitat the windscreen of the HST, the chicken smashes through the windscreen, through the cab door and ends up 2 cattiages back in the train, BR with concern contact TGV and ask what the hell went wrong, in a one sentance reply TGV send a message saying 'defrost the chicken'
I think there was something like that on Mythbusters.
 
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