MikeOH58
Well-Known Member
Had my first bird strike today as a CFI. My student and I were doing a pre ppl checkride in an AA5, at around 1,000 agl doing turns around a point when we heard a loud THUD! and the airplane shudders to the left. My student caught the bird just as it hit the wing, and said it was a good sized seagull...
It had me pretty nervous at first, but im really happy how I reacted. The bird impacted the leading edge, maybe two feet from the tip, and left a crinkle/dent about 3 inches deep by 8 inches wide. Flying that low to the ground, and seeing your leading edge smashed up sure gets the addrenalin(sp) going. I immediately took the controls from the student, and flew back to the airport. I didn't declare an emergency, but I did ask for a straight in for runway 11 (we were from the North, active was RW 24)...Plane was flying okay, but I really didn't want to mess around and have to maneuver a traffic pattern if I didn't have to. Long story short, kept the airplane clean, and kept the speed up and landing, which was uneventful....
Just thought i'd share...
pictures to come later
It had me pretty nervous at first, but im really happy how I reacted. The bird impacted the leading edge, maybe two feet from the tip, and left a crinkle/dent about 3 inches deep by 8 inches wide. Flying that low to the ground, and seeing your leading edge smashed up sure gets the addrenalin(sp) going. I immediately took the controls from the student, and flew back to the airport. I didn't declare an emergency, but I did ask for a straight in for runway 11 (we were from the North, active was RW 24)...Plane was flying okay, but I really didn't want to mess around and have to maneuver a traffic pattern if I didn't have to. Long story short, kept the airplane clean, and kept the speed up and landing, which was uneventful....
Just thought i'd share...
pictures to come later