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Why fire a cannon that shoots dead birds at 1,000 km/h?
🇪🇪 Estonia /Technology

Why fire a cannon that shoots dead birds at 1,000 km/h?

From Postimees · () Estonian

Translated from Estonian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Documents & data Context piece
  • A 18-metre cannon at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee uses compressed air to fire bird carcasses at speeds exceeding 1,100 kilometres per hour.
  • The tests assess whether aircraft windshields and cockpits can withstand bird strikes.
  • The FAA estimates that bird strikes may cause up to $300 million in annual damage in the United States, while also threatening passengers’ lives.

In the forests of Tennessee, an 18-metre tube can launch an entire chicken carcass at an aircraft windshield or cockpit. Compressed air sends the bird flying at more than 1,100 kilometres per hour.

The bizarre-looking device at Arnold Air Force Base is not a military engineering prank. It belongs to a testing programme designed to determine how aircraft components withstand collisions with birds.

The United States and other countries have developed such “chicken cannons” since the Second World War. The tests address a problem that has followed aviation since the days of the Wright brothers.

The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that bird strikes can cause up to $300 million in damage each year in the United States. They also pose a threat to passengers’ lives, giving the unusual cannon a practical purpose in aviation safety.

About this summary

Originally published by Postimees in Estonian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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