As you give thanks today over your once-frozen bird, know that travelers have an extra reason to be thankful for that Butterball. It could just as easily have been used to protect the lives of pilots and airplane passengers. You may or may not be familiar with a phenomenon known as a “bird strike,” in which an aircraft encounters a bird or flock of birds while flying, but in the aviation world it’s a serious business. Bird strikes can cause extensive damage to plane fuselage, windshields and engines – and on at least five occasions have downed planes. Aeronautics engineers decided back in the 70s that a great way to test prototype aircraft against bird strike was to fire a chicken, turkey or goose carcass at the plane at speeds up to 450 miles-per-hour, using an air cannon. There’s much debate as to whether a frozen or thawed bird works best, with a certain faction preferring the realism of unplucked fowl, though an article on urban-legend-debunking site Snopes.com is quick to point out, “the birds are dead when cannonized.” Still, some testers have switched over to specially designed gelatin, plastic or clay “birds” in deference to animal-rights groups.

Elsewhere:
– Birdstrike Committee USA
– “Bird Plus Plane Equals Snarge” (Wired News)