FLY SAFE By David Repsher
The Last Line of Defense
High-impact windscreens give pilots better protection in mitigating bird strikes.
This Bell JetRanger (right), operated by
Memphis (Tennessee) Police Air Support, lost nearly its entire
windscreen after the aircraft hit a duck (opposite) in flight.
Amazingly, the bird, a lesser scaup,
survived. (Memphis Police Air Support Photos)
O SEE
Bell test its HIWs
SEE
Robinson test its HIWs
58 ROTOR JUNE 2023
VER THE PAST FEW YEARS, the number of reported aircraft bird strikes has increased notably, according to the FAA Wildlife Strike
Database. Even when we use long-known bird-strike mitigation strategies such as reducing airspeed, flying higher, and using specialized lighting, our avian friends continue to defy our best efforts. Thankfully, most of these impacts involve small birds
and are minor, resulting in no or minimal damage to the aircraft; impacts with large species, however, have the potential to disable the pilot, crew, and the helicopter itself. This possibility effectively leaves our last line of defense, the thin plastic windscreen—which adeptly keeps us sheltered from the elements (and bugs out of our teeth)—vulnerable to penetration. It may come as a surprise to many readers that the
only US regulations pertaining to impact tolerances for bird strikes in rotorcraft are found in 14 CFR Part 29, which covers transport helicopters, and include both the windscreen and critical flight structures. For normal cate- gory rotorcraft, specifically Part 27 helicopters, such reg- ulations are impractical due to structure, performance, and center of gravity concerns. However, the existing Part 29 regulations provide a good target for two industry- leading aircraft manufacturers who’ve taken it upon themselves to provide safe, high-impact wind- screen (HIW) options for customers. I recently corresponded via email with Kurt Robinson, president and chairman of Robinson Helicopter Co., and Bill Sumner, senior manager of engineering at Bell Helicopter, about their HIW products and their compa- nies’ efforts to increase rotorcraft safety.
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