Aircraft Engines

F

FlyingDevil

Well-Known Member
Ok my roommate and I are arguing over the spiral or the single stripe that is seen on the center of engine fans on the spinner.
I said they are placed there to help ground crew determine if the engine is running or not. While he disagrees, he says there to "SCARE THE BIRDS AWAY" once I heard that I laughed my butt off. Thats ridiculous if you ask me. So I came back with, if thats the case then why do we sell fake owls at Home Depot and not spirals to scare the birds away. Plus birds do not fly at 30,000+ feet. True birds are around airports and runways, but you would think the size and the noise of the aircraft would scare them not some stupid spiral painted on the aircraft spinner. He later commented that the spirals are not painted on every aircarft engine. I said thats true cause you can not walk into a engine on a 717, DC-9, CRJ, ERJ, etc. cause those engines are to high off the ground duh.

Everyone I have ask, in avaition and not in avaition agrees with me. Can someone please help settle are argument.
argue.gif
 
Yes I agree just cause you can't walk into the engine that its not going to do damage. But where are you most likely to lose a limb and get sucked in, a low wing engine like 737 or a engine thats high atop a fuselauge like a 717, DC-9
 
Maybe it is to make future recipients of the social darwin award seal their fate ensuring they don't reproduce. Oooh pretty pinwheel, I think i will go blow on it......
 
I guess he failed to notice that when they're spinning, it's a LITTLE WHITE DOT! I doubt if that will scare too many birds.....
 
Probably there for the ground crew to know the engines are spinning on a low slung engine.

Plus, it looks real cool.
 
I think it looks cool too.

To whoever up at the top of this thread said birds don't fly up in the flight levels: the highest altitude bird strike reported was a DC-8 over Africa that sucked some kind of vulture into an engine at 30-something thousand feet.
 
[ QUOTE ]
To whoever up at the top of this thread said birds don't fly up in the flight levels: the highest altitude bird strike reported was a DC-8 over Africa that sucked some kind of vulture into an engine at 30-something thousand feet.

[/ QUOTE ]So how does this bird deal with the lack of oxgen, thin air, and temperature issues? I'm gonna have to call BS on the crew of that DC-8.
tongue.gif
 
I have heard that the rotation of the white strips on the engine will give the birds the illusion that something is approaching them at a fast speed in a forward motion ,thus scaring them away.Whether there has been a research on this or not, i can't confirm.
In terms of helping ground crew on the ground-the answer is arbitrarily. Because those fans can rotate at a very high speed while on the ground if the wind is gusting while the aircraft engines are shut down. Thereore, your best bet on the ground is to look for other indications such as beacon lights,exhaust fumes,and so forth.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top