Strange Things Struck At Altitude

[Txbyker]

Yesterday I hit a bat of all things at 8000 ft over Austin.  Square on the leading edge leaving a furry mess.  No damage...to the plane that is.

Whats the strangest thing you have seen or had hit your plane at altitude?  How high?

Russ

[gsxrpilot]

Also in the Austin area, I hit a mylar party balloon with the left wing root. I was at 6500 between Austin and Fredericksburg. No damage to the plane.

[neilpilot]

52 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Also in the Austin area, I hit a mylar party balloon with the left wing root. I was at 6500 between Austin and Fredericksburg. No damage to the plane.

Similar....in the early 1990s enroute from KPVG to south FL at 6-7000' just missed a bunch of balloons rising fast, about 100'.  Did get me attention.

[Ron McBride]

Mickey Mouse balloon over Disneyland at 4000 ft.

Ron

[PMcClure]

I have seen a bald eagle fill the windscreen at 3500'. Not sure how I missed him. Seen lots of red tailed hawks here in Alabama from AGL up to 3000' 

 

[Ftlausa]

I would not have thought a bat would fly that high.  I looked it up, and they will fly up to 10,000 feet.   

[Danb]

Near miss yesterday a drone, reported to FAA.

[PMcClure]

The partner in our F once encountered a hoard of locusts at 7,000 ft. He said the only thing he could think to do was close the filter bypass, report to ATC and hope nothing happened. No damage but lots of cleaning. 

 

[1964-M20E]

40 minutes ago, N803RM said:

Mickey Mouse balloon over Disneyland at 4000 ft.

Ron

So this is why the have had a TFR TEMPORARY flight restriction in place for 15 years. I love their definition of temporary.

[N201MKTurbo]

I hit a big bug once at 17000 ft. What is a bug doing at 17000 ft?

It was over the Rockies so it was probably carried up by updrafts, or it was trying to see how high it could fly. Maybe it was a moth trying to get to the big light in the sky.

[gsengle]

40 minutes ago, N803RM said: Mickey Mouse balloon over Disneyland at 4000 ft.

Ron

So this is why the have had a TFR TEMPORARY flight restriction in place for 15 years. I love their definition of temporary.

I just read somewhere that they are finally making it permanent.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hank]

1 hour ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

 

I have also seen a few mylar balloons pass by, but never close enough to hit or I would have been very tempted to try.

I passed a hot air balloon outside of Charlotte once. ATC gave me a point out, but didn't know what it was. Multicolored vertical stripes, moving pretty good; but so was I, my little C was holding 186 knots groundspeed. That was probably six years ago, it's still the only one I've ever seen.

[Marauder]

17 hours ago, gsengle said:

I just read somewhere that they are finally making it permanent.

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I think a lot of folks just aren't accustomed to "governmental" timelines. Temporary in government terms could be decades.

[Jeff_S]

While cruising home from Charleston SC a few summer ago, we hit a massive bug of some sort at 6,000'.  I couldn't believe a bug would ever be at that altitude or why, although some storms had passed through earlier and my biologist sister proposed that maybe it got there on the winds. Anyway, I had to shoot a pic to honor this sacrifice...if you look below between the car and the airplane you'll see the smudge on the windscreen.

[FlyDave]

A couple of years ago my wife hit me after I made an untoward remark to her. I think we were at 17,500'. Does that count?

[laytonl]

I hit a buzzard with my right wing on takeoff at 200' plane yawed and recovered.  Left a small dent.  Lee

[XXX]

Glad it wasn't me but a previous owner hit a Cessna...

The docket is stored on NTSB microfiche number 45922.

Accident occurred Friday, February 21, 1992 in ORLANDO, FL

Probable Cause Approval Date: 07/29/1993

Aircraft: MOONEY M20F, registration: N6988V

Injuries: 4 Uninjured.

NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

PLT OF N738YY REPT TO LOCAL CONTROLLER HE WAS NORTHBOUND ON NORTH LOOP IN ACCORDANCE WITH LETTER OF AGREEMENT FOR SKYWATCH FLTS. THIS WAS ONLY COMM WITH FLT PRIOR TO COLLISION. ANOTHER SKYWATCH FLT WAS SOUTHBOUND. TWO MIN LATER N6988V REPT READY FOR TAKEOFF RWY 7. PLT OF N6988V HAD NOT HEARD NORTHBOUND SKYWATCH REPT IN. N6988V WAS CLR TAKEOFF FOR NORTHWEST DEPT. AFTER TAKEOFF WHILE NW BOUND CONTROLLER CALLED TRAFFIC TO N6988V AS SKYWATCH FLT TO RT HEADING SOUTHBOUND. CONTROLLER DID NOT ADVISE OF NORTHBOUND SKYWATCH. THE PLT OF N6988V REPT SOUTHBOUND SKYWATCH IN SIGHT. ONE MINUTE LATER N6988V AND N738YY (THE NORTHBOUND SKYWATCH) COLLIDED. BOTH FLTS RETURNED TO ARPT AND LANDED UNEVENTFUL. N738YY RECEIVED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE, N6988V RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE.

 

[Hank]

That was both pilots' lucky day!!

[Marauder]

Mine was a "near miss".

A couple of years ago my mother-in-law insisted on coming down to visit us. She is getting up there in years and my wife pleaded with her to let me fly up and bring her back. She insisted she could make the trip on her own. I told her I would fly up that night and to wait. So, there I was 50 miles from landing and I see her whiz by on that moonlighted night. Just glad she didn't run into me.

[HRM]

On May 25, 2016 at 8:39 AM, Txbyker said:

Yesterday I hit a bat of all things at 8000 ft over Austin.  Square on the leading edge leaving a furry mess.  No damage...to the plane that is.

Whats the strangest thing you have seen or had hit your plane at altitude?  How high?

Russ

Well, at last annual I asked my IA if he had dropped my nose cone as I had discovered a dent in it. He snorted and said with aplomb, bird strike.

Then his helper pointed out some feathers stuck in the wing root.

BTW, now you know why some call it "Bat City". Frankly, I like that better than the "City of the Violet Crown."

Lastly, they renamed the Congress Street Bridge after Ann Richards. It still gives me a chuckle to think how a bunch of Republican politicos in a smoke-filled room at the capitol probably said, "Let's name the bat bridge after the old bat."