Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

WX Radar to avoid Birdstrike

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web

Colonel Savage

Southern style...
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Posts
1,271
So should we turn on WX radar when departing/arriving if concerned about birdstrike?
 
Does that even work with newer radar that is low powered? For that matter, does it even work with old radar?

That's why I was asking. It was mostly used as a "technique" by some, but I don't know if it was ever proven scientificly to work.
 
Have heard rumors that it works. What have we got to lose. I have struck two in my career. One of them caused two grand worth of damage to the leading edge of a King Air 350. Neither time was the radar on. Very lucky both times.
 
It works on humming birds. I use the radar all the time and have never hit a humming bird. It doesn't work on sparrows, sea gulls, hawks, pigeons, larks, owls, robins, etc as I have it many of them.
 
Works on elephants, too. I've never hit an elephant when I had the radar on.

I flew with one Captain who swore by having the radar on. He said one time he sat at the end of the runway and turned on the radar. At the same time, at the other end, a flock of birds took off.

I wasn't sold by that story.
 
I've never hit a pegasus either. I've heard they can do a lot of damage however.
 
This is very old school and perhaps back in the day when the radars left everyone in the ramp sterile if you left them on, maybe it could have had some effect, older pilots stand by the practice (my old man claims that it used to work) but the modern radar emitting strength is very low and lets not forget that the rate of closure is pretty high. At ANA we run the radar continuously regardless of weather but the bird strikes haven't stopped
 
It works great-as long as you have birds flying around in front of you comprised mostly of precipitation!
 
...I flew with one Captain who swore by having the radar on. He said one time he sat at the end of the runway and turned on the radar. At the same time, at the other end, a flock of birds took off.

I wasn't sold by that story.

We were waiting for t/o out of RSW one day and in front of us was a small lake with some birds around it. One bird popped his head up from behind a small mound just before I turned the radar on so we could check the wx for departure. Seconds after I turned the radar on, I noticed he ducked back down. I turned it off, and his head popped back up. I explained to the Capt what had just happened, and he told me to try it again. Same thing happened. I did it a third time, same result. "I'll be damned," the Capt said, "maybe there is something to that."

Coincidence?
 

Latest resources

Back
Top