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From Chicken Guns to Testing Cobra Venom: The Strange World of Military Science
Science Friday ^ | 10 Jun, 2016 | Mary Roach

Posted on 06/13/2016 9:46:27 AM PDT by MtnClimber

The chicken gun has a sixty-foot barrel, putting it solidly in the class of an artillery piece. While a four-pound chicken hurtling in excess of 400 miles per hour is a lethal projectile, the intent is not to kill. On the contrary, the chicken gun was designed to keep people alive. The carcasses are fired at jets, standing empty or occupied by “simulated crew,” to test their ability to withstand what the Air Force and the aviation industry, with signature clipped machismo, call birdstrike. The chickens are stunt doubles for geese, gulls, ducks, and the rest of the collective bird mass that three thousand or so times a year collide with Air Force jets, costing $50 million to $80 million in damage and, once every few years, the lives of the people on board.

As a bird to represent all birds, the chicken is an unusual choice, in that it doesn’t fly. It does not strike a jet in the manner in which a mallard or goose strikes a jet—wings outstretched, legs trailing long. It hits it like a flung grocery item. Domestic chickens are, furthermore, denser than birds that fly or float around in wetlands. At 0.92 grams per centimeter cubed, the average body density of Gallus gallus domesticus is a third again that of a herring gull or a Canada goose. Nonetheless, the chicken was the standard “material” approved by the US Department of Defense for testing jet canopy windows. Not only are chickens easier to obtain and standardize, but they serve as a sort of worst-case scenario.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencefriday.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans; Science
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To: Chode

Yes, and Haas F1 are doing better than I expected (like always (DNF), but not as good as I hoped (winning a race in their first season).


21 posted on 06/13/2016 7:42:23 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

lotta races left, just gotta be in the right place at the right time


22 posted on 06/13/2016 7:44:02 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -w- NO Pity for the LAZY - Luke, 22:36)
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To: Chode

Yes, but not much development tine until the off season. Still a respectable run for Haas. They were mocked before the season started. The euerotrash hate the USA.


23 posted on 06/13/2016 7:57:08 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
i hate-em right back... keeps me warm
24 posted on 06/13/2016 7:58:40 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -w- NO Pity for the LAZY - Luke, 22:36)
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To: MtnClimber

I hope that Britain exits the EU “Brexit”. Why be under the tyranny of unelected marxists. Most F1 teams are based in UK so they will be free. It seems Haas F1 is based in italy so they will be slaves until they move.


25 posted on 06/13/2016 8:08:33 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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