The Mail has a piece about the tests that a plane goes through to gain certification.
We’ve been involved in one of these, although a step back. In the certification of a new alloy to build wings out of. And the method was to simply go and build a wing out of the new alloy and then spend years bending it, spraying it with salt water, de-icing chemicals, freezing it, heating it and so on and on and then bending it again etc. As far as I know in fact, they’re still doing it.
And then there’s the other lovely story:
A chicken gun is a large-diameter, compressed-air cannon used to test the strength of aircraft windshields and the safety of jet engines. Bird collisions are a common danger to aircraft, so they must be strong enough to resist them.
Author Simon Winchester wrote in his book Leviathans of the Sky: ‘A gun was built that would fire eight thawed twenty-four-ounce chickens at the [jet engine] blades in less than a second – a simulation of a bird strike.’
British Rail tried this once. On the 125s, so the story goes. And as the story goes it all went horribly wrong, the chicken smashing through the windscreen, the steel back of the chair (where the driver would have been) and embedding itself in the back of the cab.
Oooops.
The opening line of the report into this disaster being, as the story goes, “When using the chicken gun first defrost your chicken”.
Urban myth alert.
The “frozen chicken” test is apocryphal but makes a great story.
Chicken story wasn’t true, but the chicken powered nuclear weapon apparently was.
See also:
https://youtu.be/Ai2HmvAXcU0?t=2m09s
Does this mean vegans aren’t allowed to fly?
“Sorry, mate, we’ve run out of the chicken.”
Talking of chickens, has anyone else heard the nasty rumours about Tom Watson?
Charlie Sheen had such a device in Hot Shots ! Part Deux
although it was a chicken shot from a bow.
I have an old Farnborough magazine dating from the 60’s (IIRC) with a photograph of the chicken gun.
‘Frozen chickens cause more damage than thawed chickens when fired from a gun: confirmed’ – Mythbusters, 2004
That must surely have earned the physics IgNobel.
I seem to recall that a 225 locomotive at full whack hit a Highland coo that had wandered onto the track. The driver didn’t realise and it wasn’t until it pulled into the depot that they realised there was a dent in the front and a thin sheen of beef paté all over the cab.
BiCR, even at 125 mph I don’t believe you couldn’t see a bloody cow before hitting it. I mean, its a bloody cow.
Edward Lud – “even at 125 mph I don’t believe you couldn’t see a bloody cow before hitting it. I mean, its a bloody cow.”
I find it hard to believe you wouldn’t notice it. Especially at 125 mph. Cows are not small objects. Assuming we are talking about a cow and “coo” is not referring to a pigeon.
Tom Watson wants 2 chickens
The driver probably had his feet up reading the Sun.
Can the rumour have got an important detail wrong?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3267790/Witch-hunter-Tom-Watson-s-uncle-child-abuser-Scoutmaster-jailed-sex-attacks-nine-year-old-boy.html
Well they say that those abused are more likely to be abusers in later life so based on no evidence whatsoever I think it’s clear that Tom Watson is a nonce.
Ah, BICR, does Watson’s child-molesting family background excuse his own vile behaviour? I say no.