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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0441.PDF
FLIGHT, 3 April 1953 439 BIRDS AND AIRCRAFT THE reaction of birds to aircraft is a subject that has received but scant attention, even in this, an air-minded, bird-watching age. A good deal of research has been done into ways of minimizing the danger to aircraft from collisions with birds in flight. Such collisions are largely unavoidable. No bird intention ally allows itself to be overtaken and struck by an aeroplane; usually the speed of the machine is too great for such disaster to be avoided, and there must be many instances when the hapless bird never even sees the aircraft until the moment of impact. Such incidents are not uncommon; but the natural, uninhibited reaction of wild birds to passing aircraft is quite different, and is interesting enough for much more detailed observation than has so far been given it. When heavier-than-air flight was in its infancy, many a rural wiseacre declared that, if these machines were to fly over the country in any numbers, then it would be a poor look-out indeed for most birds : the panic, apparently, was expected to develop into a fixed neurosis. There is no doubt that, in general, birds were terrified of the new flying shapes that droned and buzzed overhead and among them. The first reaction was one of undiluted fear. I have been told by a naturalist of standing, who witnessed one of the earliest flying displays in England, that when the machines whirred over a nearby poultry-field the fowls rushed madly for the shelter of their house, struggling frantically with one another to get inside to what they considered would be safety. Such happenings were widespread and gave rise, not unjustifiably, to the view that man's development of flying would be inestimably harmful to bird life. Yet, viewed against the typical reaction of most wild birds to aircraft to-day, such behaviour seems incredible. And it should be remembered that modern aircraft are larger, noisier, faster and much more numerous than they were forty years ago. To-day birds generally assume an air of indifference to almost all flying machines (with the exception of balloons, of which more anon !). They fly out of the way in a leisurely manner, occasionally wheeling round and out of the line of flight of a slow-moving plane, and often treating them with near-contempt. There is only one explanation of this phenomenon : birds in general are adaptable creatures, changing their ways as their surroundings demand. This is borne out by the attitude which certain large and aggressive birds (chiefly predators) in unfrequented lands adopt to aircraft seen for the first time. Some of these birds made deliberate, stooping attacks on planes, much as they would in attacking other birds. Airliners crossing the Andes have been attacked by condors, many pilots have had to contend with savage attacks from eagles, whilst such relatively inoffensive birds as THE Piasecki Company has proved to be one of the most successful of the many which have entered the helicopter business in America since the war, and its progress is emphasized by the fact that all available production has, up to the present time, been absorbed by the U.S. military authorities. An important new development in the company's organization is now announced: An associated concern has been formed, known as the Piasecki International Corporation, the function of which will be to provide service, overhaul, repair and modification facilities outside the U.S.A., and also to arrange licensing for the manufacture overseas of Piasecki helicopters and spares. The board of the new company will consist of Frank Piasecki, Don Berlin, Wesley Frysztacki and Harry Pack—all directors of the parent company. The first customers of the new regime will be the French Government, who have ordered a number of HUP-series Piaseckis for naval operations. These helicopters are six-seaters, powered by a single Continental 525 h.p. engine driving two rotors. An automatic pilot is provided, and a hydraulic winch fitted; provision is made for blade-folding to permit stowage in confined spaces. In announcing the formation of the subsidiary corporation, Frank Piasecki points out that it may be possible to power overseas models with foreign engines; and in this connection he mentions turboprops. The significance of this remark lies in the fact that production models of the new 44-seat XH-16 transport helicopter will have Allison T-38 turboprops. The prototype, which is being fitted with 1,650 h.p. Pratt and Whitney R-2180 piston engines, is expected to fly within a few months. It will then be the first actual helicopter to conform to the "BEAline bus" speci fication. One particularly interesting feature of the XH-16 will be its availability in two forms, one with conventional tricycle undercarriage, the other with a "high tricycle" that gives clearance for a large detachable freight-pack under the fuselage. ravens, jackdaws, kingbirds, hobbies and even a macaw over an open-air zoo have been known to lash out at aircraft passing by. Eagles and vultures are particularly troublesome in the Near East, and R.A.F. aircraft have been attacked for many years now, in spite of both evasive and scaring action on the part of the pilots concerned. Official guidance to pilots has included the advice that a change of course is the best way of throwing off such assailants. At one time, in the India-Burma area, aircrews used to shoot at eagles in an attempt to dissuade others from coming too near. Even in Scotland golden eagles have been known to go for low-flying aeroplanes, and during the Abyssinian War an Italian fighter-pilot was struck on the head by a ferocious eagle which dived straight at him through his windscreen in spite of a machine-gun attack. A passenger aircraft flying near Allahabad was once dived-on by two eagles: one crashed headlong into an airscrew, and the other burst through one wing like a lump of rock. This attack resulted in a crash. Such incidents show that, where aircraft are still relatively strange, birds may show hostility. In general, however, familiarity has bred, if not actual contempt, at least a wise indifference; even so, there are still a few cases in which birds are frightened of air craft. Excellent opportunities of studying this subject, at the sanctuary grounds of the Severn Wildfowl Trust in Gloucester shire, have not been missed by Peter Scott and his colleagues. For some reason, wild geese on the flats—especially the white- fronted and barnacle species—seem unable to get used to aero planes overhead; it has been noticed that they take instant wing at the appearance of any aircraft within a mile and approaching at a height of less than 5,000 feet. These attacks of nerves decrease later in the season, when the flocks become larger and the birds apparently more trusting. Otherwise the immediate reaction of the geese is to rise in wild alarm and fly swiftly from the shore. The observers on the Severn confirm my own experience in this direction, insofar as it is the actual sight of aircraft, and not their noise, which frightens birds. Probably this is part of the age-old inherent fear any large birdlike—or possibly hawklike— shape in the sky conjures up in almost all non-predator species. Jet aircraft do not seem to worry birds at all, in spite of their terrific whine, and even the largest machine flying low in dense cloud or mist is completely ignored—just so long as it remains invisible. I remember an instance during the war, when I was photographing a nesting blackbird from a hide. On many days fighters roared overhead in close succession, at little more than hedge-top height, yet the hen blackbird turned not a feather at the din. But she heard a twig rustle under my careless foot and left her nest in a flash. D. G. DESIGNER AND HIS PRODUCTS: At 33 years of age, Frank N. Piasecki is among the youngest designer-presidents to achieve that status. The scale models give an excellent indication of the magnitude of the XH-16 project, seen—with the types of vehicle it will carry—alongside the U.S. Navy's XHUP-1. PIASECKI DEVELOPMENTS
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